The Ressurection War: Reborn
by Fruitloop Trooper
Summary: After the battle with Apocalymon, Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi and Joe died and were reborn as 02 digidestined. Now Kari, revealed as the reborn Tai Kamiya, has to lead the others against the ultimate evil to save the Digital World.
1. DIGIMON EMPEROR:The Crest of Abandonment

If you want to see how this story is supposed to be seen, check out my author page on Mediaminer

Ressurection War: Reborn

Author's note: I thought that maybe I should rewrite some of my more popular stories. I thought I would start with my favorite one. Enjoy.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind while reading this fic. First, T.K. and Kari were not original Digidestined. Myotismon entered this world to conquer it, not to find the Eight Child. The ages of the new Digidestined are a few years older then they were in the show, they were all born around when Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi and Joe fought Apocalymon. So that means it is about fourteen-fifteen years after that incident.

_I've been having these really weird dreams lately………_

_Dreams about a battle in a world of wonders…………_

_A battle fought by warriors and true heroes…………_

_Warriors that were fantastic creatures of power………_

_Heroes that were merely young teenagers………_

_But gave their life so others could live………_

_I don't know what these dreams mean………_

_But I feel like they're tugging at the deepest part of me………_

_Could they be more then dreams………?_

_Could they be my destiny…………?_

Chapter 1: The Crest of Abandonment

Deep inside of the Digital World, the inhabitants ran across the grassland for their very lives. On their path was a group of gray ball shaped creatures with long rabbit-like ears. "Run!" one of the Gazimon shouted,"Run, it's the evil Digimon Emperor!"

The Pagumon watched as the Gazimon ran past, then turned to see exactly what had caused them to run like that. Their eyes all shot open as gasps escaped from their mouths. There was a squadron of Airdramon shooting towards them. Riding atop the lead one was a human boy, wearing a colorful costume with a flowing cape and a thick goggles. He carried a whip at his side.

"I am the Digimon Emperor," his voice boomed,"And you are now my slave!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

_"Metal Wolf Claw!"_

_"Terra Force!"_

_The two attacks disintegrated Apocalymon's upper body in an explosive array of light that illuminated the dark void around him and the Digidestined_

_"We did it!" Matt cheered_

_"We destroyed all of his claws!" Joe said_

_"Still think you're so tough?" Tai asked_

_Apocalymon's__ body started to fold in on himself and turn back into a cube "Is that the best you've got?"_

_"You know you're beaten!" Matt said,"Face it like a mon!"_

_"I might be beaten," Apocalymon said,"but I won't go down that easily I'll take you and both worlds with me!"_

_"What?" Tai asked_

_"You still haven't seen my ultimate attack! Total Annihilation!"_

Hikari Kamiya shot awake in her bed. Sweat was pouring down her face and she was breathing heavily."What a dream," she sighed, falling back onto the bed,"Why do I keep dreaming about my older brother dying? He died before I was born, I never knew him." She took a deep breath and climbed out of her bed. She stumbled into the bathroom and wiped her face with a washcloth, then stared at her reflection.

She was pretty; some might even say beautiful, with short brown hair and brown eyes. She did not have a boyfriend yet, even though nearly every boy in the school had asked her at least twice. All of her friends had boyfriends, what was wrong with her? She always answered that she was just waiting for the right one. She just hoped that she would not be a hundred-years-old when she found him.

She sighed as she climbed back into bed."I hope these dreams go away soon."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The next day, Kari was following her normal school routine: basically, get to her locker, get her books, then get to class before the first bell. She would have actually made it into the classroom on time today, if she did not run into a curly haired young man her age.

"Kari," he grinned,"How's it going?"

She sighed."Hi, Davis."

"So, are you interested in going out this Friday night?"

She sighed again. "No, Davis," she said in a tone that suggested that they had had this conversation many times before.

"Why not?" the other boy asked.

She was about to respond, but the bell's rang cut her off. The two teenagers did not say anything more as they both leapt through the door and dove into their seats. Their teacher turned towards them. "Miss Kamiya, Mr. Motomiya, please remember to be on time tomorrow."

They both looked to their desks. "Yes sir."

He turned back around and began his lesson by writing on the chalkboard. "Now, today we are going to continue our lesson about the Roman Empire. Well, _you_ will be learning.heh, heh, heh."

Kari sighed at her teacher's attempt at a joke as she slid down into her seat. Her uniform skirt caught on the chair and bunched up underneath her rear. The coldness of the seat pierced through her bare legs, and she instantly shot back up. She glanced around nervously, but no one had seen her. She sighed in relief and then looked back to the teacher; he was droning on and on about some dead Roman Emperor. She tried her best to pay attention, but her eyelids started to feel incredibly heavy. She kept forcing them open, but it was no use, they soon slammed shut.

_Etemon's__ cruel laugh filled the air with a foul and disguisting stench as he stared down at the Digidestined He was pulled into the center of his Dark Network, but he did not die, he survived! No one could stop him, no one, certainly not some weak human and his pitiful dinosaur_

_"Is there no end ta' ya' stupidity?" he chuckled,"Well, let me end it for ya!" He formed a small dark ball in his hand and flung it at the dinosaur He fell onto his back as the ball flung over him_

_"Greymon!"__ Tai shouted,"Hang on! I'm right beside you!" He suddenly noticed two bright lights shinning from his palms Upon closer examination, he found that his digivice and his crest were both shinning like two stars in the night sky_

_"Tai!"__ Greymon shouted, rising to his feet,"Your courage is giving me even greater strength! I can digivolve! Greymon digivolve to Metalgreymon!"_

_Behind Tai and Metalgreymon, the other Digidestined looked on in awe "Metalgreymon?" Joe asked_

_"It was the power from the crest," Matt answered_

_The black votex behind Etemon began to grow with strength and intensity It started to draw everything to it like a black hole Etemon was soon pulled through Tai felt himself being drawn into the darkness, but his faithful digimon placed his claw behind him to keep him from moving Unfortunately, no one was holding the metal tyrannosaurus, and the vacuum pull shot him through the air Tai and Metalgreymon were flung into the hole, and the darkness instantly over came them_

Kari gave a small yelp as she jumped up in her seat. The teacher stopped his lesson and stared at her with the rest of the class. "Is there a problem, Miss Kamiya?" he asked.

Her face began to turn a bright red. "N-no, sir."

"Then please take your seat. I want to see you after class."

She frowned and sat down, her face turning even redder. Once the teacher's back was turned, Davis whispered over to her. "What's wrong with you?"

She debated whether to tell him or not. She had been having these weird dreams for a while now, and it was becoming more then she could bear. If only one more person knew, it could be such a relief. She was about to tell him, but found that she just could not. "J..just a bad dream, that's all."

Davis was about to respond, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw the teacher start to turn around. He quickly faced forward and Kari joined him seconds before the teacher would have caught them talking in class. Both teenagers breathed a sigh of relief, and then decided it would be best to pay attention.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

After class, Kari found herself standing in front of her teacher's desk. He was looking at her with a concerned look on his face. "Now, Kari, I've been looking over your grades for the past few months. You were always a straight-A student, but lately your grades have been slipping. You've been late for class and you haven't been paying attention. Tell me, is there anything wrong at home?"

The girl hesitated for a second, and then shook her head. "No, I..it just must be the middle of the year stretch, heh."

The teacher nodded. "I expect better things from you. I hope you are able to pull yourself back to your normal grades. Remember, if you need help, I'm here."

"Yes sir," she bowed,"Thank you."

The teacher just nodded. Kari left the room and walked to her locker. As she did, she passed by the girl who was at the locker next to her. "Hi, Kari."

"Oh, hi Yolei."

The purple-haired girl stared at her. "Well, what kind of greeting was that?"

The brown-haired girl sighed. "Sorry, I've been...'off' lately."

"Oh, I know what that is like!" she chuckled."Hey, what are you doing after school? I just got that new romantic movie, and..."

Kari held her hand up. "I think I'd better do my homework. The teacher's been on my back lately."

The other girl just nodded. "Sure, I understand. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kari finished packing her bag, then started to walk towards the door. Her exit path took her passed the computer lab. Surprisingly, the door was open, and there were odd flashes of light emanating from inside. She knew that no one was suppose to be in there, but it probably was just one of the teachers. She should just go home, but the idea of the pages of homework that awaited her was not appealing in the least. She finally decided to investigate.

When she entered, she was even more surprised to discover that no one was inside. The dancing lights had their origin in one of the computers in the third row. She nervously walked over and gasped when the screen became visible to her. On the computer monitor was a strange square, with a set of rectangles down the right side, and an image of a green field in the center.

"What the heck is that?" she asked. When she approached the screen, a bright blast of light shot around her. She gave a small scream as she was pulled into the screen. When she was gone, the lights faded and all returned to normal.

Kari landed forcefully on a hard wooden floor. She smashed face first, which caused the rest of her body to fly straight up behind her. She instinctively went to pull her skirt down, but found that she was no longer wearing it. In fact, it felt like she was wearing a pair of shorts.

She quickly sat upright and examined herself. Instead of her drab, green colored uniform, she was now wearing a pair of tight-fitting yellow shorts, a sleeveless pink shirt with a large horizontal white stripe in the center, and two arm-length pink gloves that ended at the knuckles, leaving her fingers bare.

"Where did this outfit come from?" she gasped, standing up. Instead of dwelling on that question, she turned to a more imperative one. "Where am I?"

She gathered that she was in a house-a living room to be more precise. She was standing on a lush green carpet in between a large blue couch and a coffee table covered with various books in a language she did not understand. There was a gray armchair on the left end of this table and a black chair that looked like it came from an office waiting room. The walls were covered with book-filled shelves of all different colors. One wall was bare of shelves, and instead, a plain wooden door. There was a desk pressed against the right wall, with a computer resting on top. A large ceiling lamp illuminated the room.

She started to inspect the room for another exit, but could not find any. She decided that the door was the only way out, so she took a deep breath and stepped forward. She was about to grab the handle when the door swung open and an elderly man stepped inside.

Kari fell onto her rear and tried to scream, but her heart was beating so fast that she was not able to form any sort of sound. The elderly man chuckled slightly. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

Kari swallowed and found that her voice had returned. "W-who are you? W-where am I?"

"My name is Geni, and you are in my house in the Digital World."

"Digital World?" she gasped, her fear being replaced by wonder and intrigue. "The same place my brother went to?"

Geni nodded. "Yes, I can explain everything, but first, would you like some tea?"

She hesitated.

He smiled warmly. "I am not going to hurt you. Please, you are in my house, let me extend to you my hospitality."

Kari stared at the smiling old man. He sure did not seem like someone who wanted to hurt her. He sort of reminded her of her grandfather. She let her guard down slightly. "Yes, tea would be find, thank you."

He nodded, and then exited through the door. He returned a second later with a tray that contained the necessary requirements to have the liquid drink. Kari knelt next to the table as Geni poured her a cup. He joined her a second later.

"Now," he began,"You were called here because there is a threat that is once again arising in this world. He is a human, like yourself, and he calls himself, 'The Digimon Emperor." In order to fight this threat, a new group of Digidestined must be formed, or rather, returned."

"Pardon me?" she asked.

"The original Digidestined are alive."

Kari coughed on her tea. "Wait, my brother is alive? I thought he died fighting that monster in the sky fifteen years ago!"

"Apocalymon," Geni corrected,"And yes, your brother, along with, Yamato Ishida, Sora Takenouchi, Koushiro Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa, and Jou Kido all died in that battle."

"How are they alive then?"

"They were all reborn."

She raised her eyebrow. "Reborn?"

"Yes, reborn, reincarnated, resurrected, however you wish to call it. They were all brought back to life, in different bodies and different lives, with no memories of who they use to be."

Kari sipped her tea, and then stared at him. "So, how do they get their memories back?"

"That is where you come in. You will have to find all six of them before you will be able to fight the Digimon Emperor. However, before you can do anything, you will need to find your own digimon partner."

"I get a partner?" she exclaimed,"Wow, my own digimon."

Geni nodded."Yes." He handed her an odd-shaped device. "This is a digivice. If you follow its signal, you should be able to find your partner. I will show you to the door. Good luck."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The Bakemon slowly floated down the long dark hallway, passing over the floor grates below him. Dark hands were emerging through, clawing at the sky in a desperate attempt to escape the terrible dungeons in which they were trapped. The Bakemon ignored the screams of pain and terror exploding from underneath as he continued on his trek.

He reached the stairwell and floated up the countless flights of stairs until reaching the very top. He hovered across another dark hall until he reached a giant black door. "Master!" he called.

"Come in."

The ghost pushed the door open and hovered into a room of intense nothingness. It was a black hole of darkness, not even the floors were visible. An array of monitors was positioned around the room at odd angles. In the center was a throne made of skulls, twisted in horror and terror. Even this horrendous sight of evil was nothing in comparison to the evil human seated on that throne.

"Sire," the ghost bowed.

"What is it?"

"Sire, our spies tell us that another human has appeared in the Digital World."

"What?" he asked, spinning towards him,"A human?"

"Yes sir."

He grinned. "Well, let us see why he dares invaded _my_ realm!" He reached over to the array of buttons on his armrest and pressed a blue one in the center. All of the monitors suddenly flashed to the same image of Kari walking through a thick forest. "A girl?" he gasped,"This human is a...a girl?" He chuckled slightly,"Well, I suppose it makes no difference. She will soon know the mistake of crossing the Digimon Emperor!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Kari held the strange device out in front of her as she walked through the forest. She was not sure how the thing worked, but figured that if it beeped while being pointed in one direction and did not in another, and then it probably wanted her to follow the path when it beeped.

As she walked through the forest, she tried to determine exactly what she was doing there. Her parents had always told her stories about her older brother traveling through this exotic world known as the Digital World. It always excited her and even though she never told anyone, she secretly wished she could go on an adventure like that. This was her chance to have an adventure; this was her chance to be a hero like Tai was.

Her digivice stopped beeping, so she moved it to the right, but nothing happened. She moved it to the left and it began to beep again. She was about to start walking again, when she noticed thata figurewas standing in her way. She could not tell any facial feauters, as he was wearing a trench coat with a hood that covered his face in shadows.

"Ah!" she jumped back. "I wish everyone would stop _doing_ that!"

"My apologies," the figure said,"I only wanted to see the great hero that is going to save this world."

Kari smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know about that..."

The figure chuckled. "You are not aware of your true destiny. You may be the hero this world desires, not, that this world _requires!_ You could be the one to break the seal, and turn back the darkness!You may be the one to save us all!"

She was about to respond; when she notice the figure had vanished. "What is going on around here?"

Her digivice began to beep even louder and at such intensity, that she pushed the mysterious figure out of her mind and quickly ran down the path until she reached a large cavern. Even though the cave was emanating bright sunlight, she was hesitant about entering. Her device started to beep even louder, so she took a deep breath and walked inside, where she found a strange, white colored egg lying on the ground. "I'm suppose to find a digimon, not a chicken," she sighed,"Wait, digimon hatch from eggs."

Her face suddenly changed to a very shocked impression. "H..how did I know that? I..I never..."

She took a deep breath. "Geni probably told me that." Even though she knew that was not true, part of her believed it, and that was enough to move her towards the white egg of the floor. She gently placed her hand on the oval shaped item. Instantly, the egg exploded in a bright light, so bright that Kari fell onto her back. When she sat up again, the white egg was gone, and in its place was a strange dog creature.

"Kari!" it called, galloping over to her,"Kari!"

The teenage girl backed up slightly. "W..who are you?"

"My name's Salamon!" she called, jumping up and down,"And I'm your partner!"

She breathed in relief. "I thought you were going to attack me."

"I'd never do that," she said,"And I'll always protect you!"

Kari smiled. "Well, I guess we'd better go back to Geni's. Come on."

The two girls exited the cave, but when they entered the forest, they found themselves face-to-face with a large gray triceratops. "What is that!" Kari shouted.

"Monochromon!" Salamon said,"But I never saw one with a black ring on its leg before."

"Why is he staring at us like that?" Kari asked, stepping backwards slightly.

The Monochromon suddenly launched at them. They gave a small yelp, and then started to run in the other direction. Unfortunately, he was right behind them. "Why is he so mad at us?" Kari shouted.

"I don't know!" Salamon answered,"I was just born, remember?"

The duo continued to run through the forest until they reached the walls of a large black tower. There was no way to make it to the other side in time, so they twirled around and watched as the Monochromon charged even closer. Kari turned to her partner. "Can't you get bigger or something?"

"If you mean digivolve, I should be able to, but for some reason I can't."

"That would be because of me!"

The Monochromon instantly slid to a stop as a large green serpent with wings slowly descended between it and the Digidestined and her partner. On top of the winged serpent was a teenage boy around Kari's age, wearing a blue and white suit with a matching cape flowing behind him. Kari stared at him. "Are you...the Digimon Emperor?"

He nodded. "Ah, I see you've heard of me. Yes, I am the Digimon Emperor, and I am the ruler of this world."

Kari glanced at Salamon, then glared at the Digimon Emperor. "That can't be true! These digimon deserve to be their own rulers!"

The Emperor raised his eyebrow at her. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to join me then, huh?"

"Not a chance!" she glared at him.

He sighed. "Very well. Monochromon, destroy them."

The Airdramon floated back into the sky. Salamon jumped in front of Kari. "Why can't I digivolve?" she asked.

The Digimon Emperor chuckled as he mentioned to the large black tower. "That is my control spire. As long as it stands, digivolution will be locked."

Kari glanced to the top of the black obelisk behind her. "How do I get rid of it?"

"Kari!" Salamon called,"You might want to pay attention!"

The teenager spun back around and watched as the Monochromon began to charge at them. "Don't you have any attacks?"

Salamon took a deep breath, and then began to scream at a low pitch. "Puppy Howl!"

The massive triceratops started to moan in pain as he started to wobble like he was intoxicated. Salamon momentarily and Monochromon gathered enough of his senses back to charge at the two girls. The digimon was about to attack again, when Kari grabbed her and leapt to the side. The large horn on the Monochromon's head smashed into the Control Spire. It shattered all across the four sides like a plate of glass.

"No!" the Emperor shouted,"You've destroyed it!"

Kari glanced at Salamon. "Can you..?"

She nodded. "Yes!"

The digivice on Kari's belt started to glow, and it fired a stream of light that crashed into Salamon. Her entire body glowed brightly and she began to spin around. "Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

The new cat digimon galloped at the Monochromon. She flipped up into the air and held her left paw out. "Lighting Paw!" She began to pound his face with her paw at an incredible rate. The Triceratops had to turn away, which brought his left front leg in line with Gatomon's attack. Her Lightning Paw smashed into the dark ring around the dinosaur's leg, breaking it off. The Monochromon instantly shook his head and glanced around, very confused.

"The ring!" Kari shouted,"That ring was controlling him!"

The Digimon Emperor growled. "Just because you've discovered my secret, doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me."

"Guess again!" Kari shouted, pointing her finger at him,"We're coming after you now!"

"I don't think so!" he laughed. Kari noticed that there was a strange pendant hanging around his neck, which now started to glow at dull black. "Fell my power!"

Kari fell to the ground, a feeling of deep depression over-taking her. "Kari!" Gatomon shouted, running over to her,"Talk to me! What's wrong?"

"I..I don't know," she said, almost crying,"I..I just feel so sad. I..I don't know..." Her eyes suddenly rolled back into her head, and she fell to the ground.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

When she felt consciousness return to her, she found that she was lying on the couch in Geni's living room. When she sat up, she found Salamon was staring at her from the back of the piece of furniture. "You're awake!"

She sat up at her normal rate, but felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She started rubbing her sore neck, and swung her legs around so she could rest against the back of the couch. "What happened? I..I just felt so sad all of a sudden, it was like I couldn't move. It was so strong, I..I just couldn't take it."

Geni walked into the room a second later with a cup in his hands. "Here, drink this. It should help."

She thanked him and sipped the liquid. It tasted sweet and her head felt better instantly. "Geni, what was that thing around the Digimon Emperor's neck? It looked like a medal or something."

"It was one of the crests."

"Well, whatever it was, it gave me such a feeling of..depression. I couldn't take it, that's why I passed out."

Geni nodded. "Yes," he sighed,"Abandonment, a truly terrible feeling."

"Wait a minute," Kari said,"I thought the Crests belonged to the Digidestined."

"They did," Geni said, sitting down in the gray armchair,"But when the Digidestined died, the crests were scattered. Three of the six were taken by the evil forces and corrupted. Abandonment is one of these 'evil' crests."

Kari stared at the floor for a few minutes before taking a deep breath. "Well, that's it then."

"What?" Salamon asked, watching her partner curiously.

"I need a crest," she said,"I need my own. Where can I get one?"

Geni smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing, you just remined me of your brother."

"_You_ knew Tai?" she gasped,"Am I really like him?"

He nodded. "Yes. As to your request for a crest, I'll have to do some research as to where one may be." He glanced at the clock on the wall,"But maybe it's time you return to earth."

Kari turned to look at the clock. "Oh shoot! Mom's gonna kill me! Come on, Salamon!"

Geni mentioned to the computer resting on the desk,"You can leave through here. Just hold your digivice to the screen."

She bowed. "Thank you." She held the digivice to the screen. She and Salamon were pulled through, leaving Geni alone.

The sage was about to clean up the dishes, when he felt someone staring at him. When he turned around, he saw a figure standing in his house, but, strangely, he breathed in relief. "You have to stop doing that," he said,"I'm an old man, I can't afford to have a heart attack."

"Sorry," the other being said,"When I heard that another human had appeared here, I wanted to check it out as soon as possible. Tell me is she the one? The one to gather the Digidestined, the one to break the seal, the long-awaited hero of this world?"

"I believe so," Geni answered.

"You have been wrong before," the figure answered simply.

"_You_ gave the other one the crest, remember?" Geni responded,"You're just as guilty as me."

The other one sighed. "Hikari Kamiya wants a crest, does she? Well, maybe I can help her. After all, if she's the one we've been waiting for, it's worth the risk."

Geni nodded."I know she's the hero we need." He smiled,"She doesn't know it yet, but she's going to save us all."

_Preview:A disturbance brings two teenage boys into the Digital World where they are attacked by the Digimon Emperor. Kari is sent to rescue them, but are they more then simply lost travellers? Next: "Digimon Emperor: Discovery." In the fight against evil, there will always be allies._

Author's note

Well, what do you think?


	2. DIGIMON EMPEROR: Discovery

Hey, it's Kari. I was having strange dreams about my older brother dying, when I was pulled into the Digital World! There I met this guy named Geni, who told me that I was really a Digidestined. He said that my brother and the rest of the old Digidestined had been reborn and it was my mission to find them!

I found my digimon partner, Salamon, but we were chased by a Monochromon that was under the control of a Dark Ring. We ran until we reached a Control Spire, when the Monochromon accidentally destroyed it. Salamon digivolved to Gatomon and freed the digimon. We met the Digimon Emperor himself, but he used this weird Crest of Abandonment to defeat me. The only way to beat him is to get my own crest. Now, where the heck am I suppose to get one?

_What does this existence mean………?_

_Is this life all there is………?_

_Will I one day pass on………_

_Into nothingness………?_

_Or will there be friends and family waiting for me………?_

_Scientists can recite the creation of the universe, the Big Bang………_

_They can explain everything in terms of the physical world………_

_But is that all there is………?_

_There has to be more………_

_Sometimes I wonder………_

_If I've ever lived before………_

_If I've ever experienced another life………_

DIGIMON EMPEROR: Discovery

The Digimon Emperor stood atop his Monochromon as the rest of his Dark Ring controlled forces rumbled across the grass field. The simple flowers and blades of green were no match for the thundering stamping of the massive Triceratops. Destruction followed in the wake of the fearsome human teenager. He relished in the terror, it was what he lived for. Yet, he did not even smile as the Monochromons stamped innocent flowers.

"Something bothering you?"

He looked to the small digimon on his shoulder. "Yes, Tsukaimon, that girl from earlier."

His partner sighed. "Still?"

"Y_es!_ What was she doing here?"

"I think it was pretty obvious. She was sent to stop us." He stared at him for a few seconds before clearing his throat. "But..maybe she's the one from that cave."

"That hero?" the Emperor asked,"I doubt it, but..."

Tsukaimon used his large ears to hover away from the Emperor's shoulder, "I've seen her digimon. If she can only reach the Champion level, she'll be no match for me."

"Don't get cocky," he sighed, crossing his arms as the Monochromons continued to march,"We have more important things to worry about anyway. That Destiny Stone is around here somewhere. We've just got to find it, and then, the entire Digital World will bow down before me!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Inside of the Kamiya apartment, the serene quiet morning was broken by the sound of the alarm blasting inside of Kari's room. The teenage girl moaned slightly as she reached out from underneath the covers and slammed her hand down on the snooze button. "Just five more minutes," she said, sliding back under the sheets.

"Kari!" Mrs. Kamiya shouted,"Kari, are you awake?"

Her daughter sighed as she slowly poked her head out of the sheets. "Yeah, I'm awake."

"Hurry up!" she heard her mother call,"You don't want to be late for school!"

"Yeah, that would be a real shame," she muttered as she climbed out of the bed. As she swung her feet around, her feet caught onto Salamon and threw her to the floor.

"Salamon!" she cried, dropping to her digimon partner's side,"Salamon, are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

The puppy dog digimon shook her head slightly. "Wha-what happened?"

"I accidentally kicked you to the ground," Kari said, lightly rubbing her head across her partner's head, "Are you okay?"

Salamon shrugged. "I don't remember you doing that, so I guess so."

Kari chuckled slightly, then heard her mother. "Kari!"

"I'm awake!" she shouted back. She jumped up and quickly made her bed. She shed her pajamas and ran to her closet to pull on her uniform. The teenager charged to her vanity table.. During her entire morning routine, Salamon simply sat on the ground and watched her.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting ready for school," she said, running a comb through her hair, "While I'm there, you'll have to stay here and pretend to be a stuffed animal."

Salamon cocked her head to one side. "What's a stuffed animal?"

Kari sighed, then looked around her room. She ran over and pointed to the white teddy bear that was on the top of her dresser. "Like this."

Salamon stared at the fake bear, "But, she's not moving."

"That's the point," Kari sighed, "If my mom finds out about this, she'll freak." Before Salamon could ask, Kari just said,"She won't like it. We've got to keep it a secret."

"Oh, all right."

Kari smiled slightly,"You're one of a kind."

Mrs. Kamiya's voice sounded through the apartment. "Kari!"

"I'm coming!"

Kari ran into the school, totally out of breath. She glanced at the large clock that was resting against on the wall. She had only ten minutes before home room began, and she still needed to go to her locker. There was no way she could make it.

"Of course I can," she smiled to herself as she ran up the stairs, "I'm a Kamiya!"

She wondered where _that_ came from, she never recalled ever saying something like that before. She did not have time to wonder, though, so she just pushed that thought out of her head as she entered the second floor. She ran to her locker and quickly dialed in the combination as she glanced at the clock. Five minutes left, she was making good time.

She grabbed her books and slammed the door shut. The halls were surprisingly empty, everyone must all ready be in class. She had to hurry.

She started dashing for her class, when she slammed into someone, her books flew everywhere. "I'm so sorry!" she shouted, "Are you okay?"

The person she had run into was a familiar boy with curly brown hair. "Kari," he grinned.

"Davis?" she gasped, "W..what are you doing here?" She mentally smacked herself. She knew what he was doing there, but it was the only thing she could think of because of her shock.

He grinned. "Getting run into by pretty girls."

She quickly turned away and started to pick up her books. Maybe if she just ignored him, he would stop starting at her. Maybe he would just go away and leave her alone.

No such luck. "Here, let me pick those up for you," he said, grabbing the books that Kari had dropped," It was my fault, after all."

"No, I've got it," she said, quickly pilling her books into her arms, "Aren't you going to be late for class?"

He suddenly seemed to remember the time. "Oh shoot, you're right." He quickly grabbed his books and looked at the clock. "Come on, we've got to hurry."

Kari jumped back onto her feet and charged towards the door. She knew the bell was going to ring any second, so she dove through the door and her feet touched the ground seconds before the bell sounded.

She panted heavily, then suddenly turned to face the class. They were all staring at her, while her teacher was clapping. "Very well done, Miss Kamiya," he said, "I was most impressed by that terrific display of athletic mastery. I can see why the Soccer team did so well last year."

She knew her face was completely red, and had to fight every urge to turn away from the teacher's gaze. "Yes sir, sorry sir."

He walked from her and over to where Davis was seated in his desk. "But at least she was on time, albeit only by a few seconds, but she was still inside the room when the bell rang. Mr. Motomiya, however, thought that he could sneak into his seat while I was talking to his classmate."

Davis started to blush and slunk down into his seat.

The teacher walked back to the front of the room. "Miss Kamiya, Mr. Motomiya, you both have detention after school. Take your seat, Miss Kamiya."

She nodded and walked to her desk. She knew that the other students were staring at her, but she did not care any more. She had humiliated herself in front of all of her friends and fellow classmates. Maybe that would teach her to be to class on time.

What was happening to her? She never use to be late before, her grades were always perfect, yet, lately she had been slipping. What was going on?

It was those stupid dreams, that's what it was. How could she be expected to be on time and study properly when she could not get a good night's sleep? Besides, now she had to find the other Digidestined and bring their memories out. How was she supposed to do that to begin with? And where was she going to start?

"Miss Kamiya!"

She snapped back into attention. "Yes sir?" she shouted on instinct.

The teacher sighed. "I said, Please complete the problem on the board."

She swallowed hard and turn to look at the black board. It was an easy problem, one that she could definitely do. She breathed a small sigh of relief and walked to the board.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

After the last bell rang, Ken Ichijoji ran into the halls with the other students. Even though the school day was over and the other teenagers were anxious to run home, Ken was going to be here for at least the next hour. He had to suffer through the entire school day, but now was his favorite class, well, actually, his favorite _after_ school class, computers.

He ran past the other students and charged into the computer classroom. No one was there, the room was completely void of any people. He had always been early, but he had never made it to class even before the teacher! He shrugged and walked over to the computer screen in the back of the room.

He logged on and started to check his e-mail when the pointer did not respond. He grabbed the mouse and started shaking it, trying to lodge the pointer free, but it not work. He sighed to himself and tried Alt-Ctrl-Delete, but the keyboard did not respond.

"Oh man," he sighed. He was going to manually shut the computer down, when the screen started flashing. He watched with wide eyes as a strange image appeared on the monitor.

"What the heck is that?" he asked. He was about to try the mouse again, when the screen shot out a bright flash of light that totally covered him. When the light faded, he was gone. The computer screen blinked and then changed to Ken's homepage.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh. A stupid essay! She thought that in detention, you were forced to stay quiet and stare forward. Boy, was she ever wrong. Her teacher forced her to write an essay about why grades are important and why students need to be on time. She worked her hardest to make it the best essay that she ever wrote. She could have easily written something quick, but she did not want to get into any more trouble. She worked as hard as she could and created, in her opinion, a very decent essay.

"Finished, Miss Kamiya?"

She opened her eyes and saw that her teacher was standing in front of her desk. She handed him the paper. "Yes, sir."

He nodded. "Good. You may leave, and I hope that I do not see you in detention again."

She bowed, then exited the room. She sighed deeply and slowly walked down the hall. "My parents are going to kill me when I get home." She glanced at the clock. "Maybe I'll take the long way home."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""''

Ken slowly opened his eyes, feeling an intense pain in the back of his head. "Oh man, that really hurt."

He found that he was lying in the middle of a grass covered field that seemed to stretch for miles. While large green trees littered the prairie, the plain was almost completely bare, a flat plateau stretching on forever.

"Where am I?" he asked, "I was in the computer lab, how did I get here? And where the hell _is_ here?"

He looked around in all directions, but all he saw was green grass and trees stretching to the horizon. He sighed, "I guess I've got no choice."

He took a deep breath and started walking. He had only been traveling about a half-an-hour when he came upon a strange sight: a younger boy lying on the ground.

"Hey!" he shouted, running over to him,"Hey! Are you okay?"

The boy slowly sat up. "I think so. Who are you?"

"My name is Ken, what's yours?"

"Cody. Where are we?"

Ken sighed. "I was hoping that you could tell me."

The younger boy stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I was just sitting in computer class, when I ended up here. What about you?"

Cody nodded. "Me too. I was in front of my computer and...the next thing I knew, you were waking me up."

Ken smiled slightly. "I guess we're in this together, huh?"

"What should we do?" Cody asked.

Ken mentioned to the horizon. "I was thinking that maybe if we searched, we might be able to find out how we ended up here."

Cody thought for a few seconds, then nodded. "I guess that's a good idea. Let's go."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

When Kari finally did make it home, she slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The apartment was empty. "Mom? Dad?" she called, removing her shoes at the door. She walked into the kitchen, when the door to her room flew open and Salamon came charging out.

"Kari!" she called.

"Salamon!" she hissed, "What are you doing? What if Mom and Dad saw you?"

"They're not here," the digimon said, "I heard them over _that_ thing over there."

"What thing?" she asked. She turned to where her partner was pointing, "Oh, you mean the answering machine. I hope they're okay."

She ran over and pressed the button. "You have three new messages."

"Okay.."

"'BEEP' Hi Kari, it's Yolei. I was just wondering if you got the homework from Asikuwra. You know how much of a witch she is, so I don't want to go in tomorrow without it. Please call me back, this is a matter of life and death."

Kari just shook her head. "I don't think Yolei will ever change."

'BEEP' Kari, this is Mom and Dad. You'll probably get home before us, but your father came home early and we went out for the night. Dinner's in the fridge, make sure you're in bed on time. Your teacher called yesterday about you falling asleep in class."

"Damn," she said to herself.

"Anyway, we'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night, honey."

Kari breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm safe. Boy, I sure lucked out."

Salamon cocked her head. "You humans are weird."

The weird human pressed the button on the answering machine for the last time.

'BEEP' Kari, this is Geni. There's a problem in the Digital World. Get here as soon as you can."

Kari and Salamon glanced at each other, then ran into Kari's room. Kari grabbed her digivice and ran over to her desk. The teenager quickly logged into her computer, then stopped. "What's wrong?" the digimon asked.

"How do we even get into the Digital World?" she asked, "I don't have any idea."

Salamon cocked her head to the side. "So we can't get back?"

Kari took a deep breath. "Okay, there's got to be something that I can...." She turned around to ask Salamon something, but the digivice on her belt faced the computer and exploded in a bright light. The computer flashed the same light, enveloping Kari and Salamon, pulling them once again into the Digital World.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Digimon Emperor sat on his throne, lightly tapping the armrest of his regal chair. He was staring at the monitors around his throne room, completely bored. He had arrived in the Digital World earlier that day with the intention of securing more Destiny Stones, but none of his servants had discovered any leads. So he had spent the afternoon lying around his base, doing absolutely nothing. He wondered if this is what he would have to deal with when he finally conquered the Digital World. Would he spend his royal days bored beyond belief? Maybe this was why those Roman rulers had that Coliseum. He would have to look into that.

Tsukaimon hovered over to him. "Master! Haven't you heard me calling you?"

"What is it?" he asked.

Tsukaimon hovered over to the monitors. The screens displayed a variety of images, but the two that the small digimon pointed to show an image of Ken and Cody, while the other was of Kari and Salamon wandering through a forest.

The Digimon Emperor jumped up. "How long have they been there?"

"About an hour," he answered, "I'm amazed at how quickly the two boys were walking. They already walked out of the green field and into that forest."

The Emperor grinned. "At last, some excitement! Who's the closest?"

"Well, I'll have to.."

"Forget it!" he grinned, "Just send the Tyranomons."

"Yes, Master."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari and Salamon wandered through the green forest, looking in every direction. "Geni said they were around here somewhere, but I can't find any trace of them, can you?"

The puppy dog digimon shook her head. "No, I can't find anything either. Maybe we're in the wrong place."

Kari frowned. "Maybe you're right."

Her digivice started beeping. "Wait a minute, I'm getting a reading on something." Kari followed the beeping noise on her device through the forest until they reached the edge of a mountain.

She sighed. "Dead end, I guess. Salamon, why don't we...Salamon?" She turned to her side, but her digimon partner was not there. "Salamon?" she cried.

"Kari, over here!"

The teenager followed the edge of the mountain until she reached her digimon partner, who was standing in front of a large cave entrance. "Maybe we should go in there?" the puppy dog asked.

The brown haired girl nodded. "Good idea."

The two girls took a deep breath and walked inside the cave. There was not much difference between that cavern and every other cave that they had ever seen. It was dark and gloomy, with water dripping slowly from somewhere inside the walls. There was a major difference, however, this cave had two boys resting inside.

"Cody and Ken, I presume?" Kari asked, with a slight smile.

"Who are you?" the younger boy asked.

"My name is Kari, this is Salamon. We were sent here to find you," she explained.

Salamon nodded. "Yeah, it took us some time to find you, we almost got lost."

"All right," Ken nodded, "Where are we, and did your dog just talk?"

Kari broke into a full smile. "That's not a dog, it's a digimon, and you're in the Digital World."

"Digital World?" he gasped, "You mean that..that weird place that appeared in the sky twelve years ago?"

Kari nodded. "Yeah." She looked to the ground, "My brother died in that battle."

"I'm sorry," Cody said, "Your brother, who was he?"

"Tai Kamiya," she said with pride, "He was the leader of the Digidestined, and I.." She shook her head, "I guess that's not really important right now. Why are you two here?"

Ken and Cody glanced at each other. "We were just pulled here," Ken said, "We don't know why."

The teenager nodded. "Okay. Well, let's get you back to Geni's. He can probably send you back home."

The two boys nodded and rose to their feet. They followed Kari and Salamon to the entrance of the cave, and their faces drained of all color when they saw the two large red dinosaurs that were waiting for them. "Are those digimon?" Cody asked.

"Yup," Salamon answered, "They're Tyranamons, but why are they staring at us like that?"

Kari pointed to the dinosaurs' wrists, "Dark Rings! The Digimon Emperor sent them!" She turned to her partner, "Are you ready to digivolve?"

The puppy dog nodded. "I'm ready!"

Kari pointed her digivice at Salamon, but the digital device did not glow brightly as it should have. Instead, it made a slightly fizzling sound, then was silent. "What's going on?"

Salamon glanced around, but did not find what she was looking for. She trotted forward a few feet, then stretched her neck to look at the top of the mountain. She saw a large black tower reaching for the sky.

"Kari!" she pointed,"A Control Spire! That's why I can't digivolve!"

The teenage girl stared at the snarling duo ready to snap their massive jaws at the three children and the Rookie digimon. "Back into the cave!" she shouted.

Ken and Cody spun around and dove into the cavern. The female member of their species was about to join them, but before she jumped back inside she saw that her digimon partner was running towards the two dinosaurs. "Salamon!"

"Don't worry, Kari!" she called, "I can still fight them."

The teenager grabbed her partner, and ran back inside. "Not a chance! Let's go!"

The two girls found the boys leaning back against the wall, panting. "I never thought I would see a living dinosaur," Cody panted, "_JurassicPark's_ got nothing on this."

Kari was about to say something when the Tyranamon's roar blasted from behind her. She jumped forward, then spun around. She could see that one of the dinosaur was jabbing its jaw through the opening in the mountain in an attempt to grab it's prey. Although the Dark Ring controlled digimon was not able to reach them yet, it would not be long before he caused the mouth of the cave to shatter apart into an even larger hole that he could pass through.

"Maybe there's a back door or something," Kari said, running past the others,"Help me look."

The two boys followed closely behind the Digidestined and her partner. They ran only a few feet before arriving at a solid rock wall. "So much for the back door," Ken sighed.

"Kari!" Salamon shouted, "Look at this."

The three humans glanced to where Salamon was pointing. There was a raised platform carved out of the stone, resembling a shelf of rock. Resting on this shelf were three objects that resembled eggs: one was bright red and had a horn sticking out of the top, the second was an orange, oval shape and the third was blue and white. There were three square slots arrange in a line next to the last egg; it appeared that there were three other eggs that were once held there.

"Most unusual," Ken said, scratching his chin. He turned to Kari, "Any idea what these are?"

She shook her head. "No, none at all." She walked over to the first egg and examined it. "Maybe I can lift it?" She placed both of her hands firmly on the egg, but found that she was able to lift it quite easily.

"Well, what does it do?"

Kari turned to Salamon. "I don't know." She stared at the other four, then glanced over her shoulder at the two boys. _"They were pulled to this world and no one knows why, but they found their way to this cave Hmm_"

She smiled slightly and nodded to herself. "Cody, Ken, I would like you to try and lift these eggs."

The two boys gasped at her. "What?"

She nodded. "Ken, why don't you try first?"

He glanced at Cody, but the younger boy just shrugged his shoulders. "I guess, good luck."

The older boy sighed. "Okay, thanks." He walked over to the third egg, which was of the blue and white color. He grabbed firmly the sides and tried to pull up with all of his might. The egg remained firmly situated in place.

The teenage girl just nodded. "Try the next one."

Ken looked over his shoulder and nodded. He walked to the orange colored egg and grasped it firmly. He took a deep breath and pulled with all of his might. Surprisingly, the egg easily lifted off of the shelf. He joined the others in a gasp as a beam of green light erupted from the square slot where the egg once rested. A square device formed in the center of the light and floated over to Ken's hands. He turned to Kari. "Is this...what you have?"

Kari lifted up her's. "Yeah, it's a Digivice."

"Ken!" Cody pointed, "Look behind you!"

The older boy turned around and saw a green caterpillar creature forming in the green light. When it faded, the large bug turned to Ken and smiled. "Hello. My name is Wormmon, and I am your digimon partner."

"My...my partner?"

"That's right. You removed the Digi-egg of Knowledge. Only my digidestined partner can do that."

Ken just nodded, awe struck. "My name is Ken. It's nice to meet you..Wormmon."

"Likewise."

Kari grinned and turned to Cody. "Your turn."

The younger boy took a deep breath and walked over to the silver egg. He tired to lift it, but as with Ken, it would not move. He walked over to the blue and white egg and lifted. This time, he was successful.

As with Ken, a beam of orange light emerged from the ground. A digivice floated over to his hands and his own digimon partner appeared. "Hiya!" he called, "My name's Armadillomon, and since you removed the Digi-egg of Reliability, you must be my partner!"

Cody nodded. "My name is Cody Hida. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The group heard the loud roar of the Tyranomon. "They haven't left yet?" Cody asked.

"We have to fight them," Kari said, clenching her fists, "But as long as that Control Spire is above us, our digimon can't digivolve. If only there was some way!"

The three eggs that were resting in the digidestineds' hands began to glow. The three floated from their grasp and over to their digimon. No one was able to say anything before the oval shaped objects exploded in bright light, filling the room with a multitude of colors.

**Salamon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Courage began to twirl around in synch "Salamon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in fire and light, as the images of Agumon, Greymon, Metalgreymon and Wargreymon flashed behind her The flames receded to reveal two paws with sharp claws The flames receded to reveal a mouth of sharp fangs Geysers of flames erupted behind the large feline digimon**

**"Lynxmon! The Fires of Courage!"**

**Wormmon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Knowledge began to twirl around in synch "Wormmon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in silver light, as the images of Tentomon, Kabuterimon and Megakabuterimon flashed behind him The light receded to reveal two metal antennas The light receded to reveal a large circular disc that appeared on his back He shot a blast of static electricity exploded into the ground**

**"Searchmon, The Shield of Knowledge!"**

**Armadillomon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Reliability began to twirl around in synch "Armadillomon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in blue light, as the images of Gommamon, Ikkakumon and Zudomon flashed behind him The light receded to reveal two flippers The light receded to reveal a long harpoon on the sea digimon's nose**

**"Submarimon, the Reliable Guardian of the Sea!"**

The Tyranomon that was jabbing it jaw into the cave entrance was suddenly thrown backwards as Lynxmon's attack cause him to rear back in pain. Searchmon and Submarimon joined him their fire friend and second later. The three digidestined ran through the hole in the mountain and stared at their partners. Salamon had digivolved into a massive feline, with orange flames racing across her body, Wormmon had changed into a metallic beetle with a large dish strapped to his back, and Armadillomon had become a dolphin like creature with a large harpoon attacked to his nose.

"The Ring!" Kari shouted as she and the two boys ran out to join their partners. "You've got to destroy those Rings!"

"She's right!" Lynxmon shouted, "I destroyed a Black Ring on a Monochromon and freed it from the Digimon Emperor's control!"

"Lead the way!" Searchmon buzzed.

Submarimon fired one of his Oxygen Torpedoes at the Dark Ring on the first Tyranomon, but the red dinosaur moved his wrist too quickly, and the Torpedo passed into empty air. Lynxmon tried to attack with a blast of flame, but her attack was ineffective as well.

"We're not doing so good," Cody sighed. He turned to his new friend, "Ken, do you have any ideas...Ken?!"

Kari turned her eyes from the battle and saw the older boy lying on the ground with his hands squeezing his head. "Ken, what's wrong?"

"My head hurts," he moaned, "Like someone's got my brain in a vise!" He started wriggling around on the ground, "I can't take it!" He suddenly screamed out.

"Ken!"

"K...Koushiro..."

Cody and Kari looked at each other. "What did you say, Ken?" Kari asked.

"Kourhiro Izumi," Ken said, "My name was once Koushiro Izumi!" He stood up, "I remember! I was once Izzy Izumi!"

"What's he talking about?" Cody shouted.

Kari was in shock. "K..Koushiro Izumi was one of the original Digidestined! I found one," she smiled, "I found one!"

The trio of Digidestined heard a loud roar and they quickly turned their attention back to the battle. The three digimon had succeeded in bringing both of the red dinosaurs to the ground. However, the Dark Rings still remained.

"We've got to get rid of those rings!" Lynxmon roared, "I'll distract them! The two of you attack!"

She charge forward and a burst of red flame leapt from her back and race around the carnivores, leaving them trapped within a circle of flame. "Thermal Mane!"

"My turn!" Searchmon buzzed, hovering into the air. The dish on his back began to glow and shot out a column of orange light into the dinosaurs that was on the right. "Jamming Hertz!" The insect's attack pounded into the Dark Ring and shattered it apart.

"What about the other one?" Lynxmon asked.

"Allow me," Submarimon said. He leapt into the air and fired a burst of air from his missile chambers. "Oxygen Torpedo!" His attack was successful as well, as it destroyed the Dark Ring on the second Tyranomon.

After a quick apology, the two Tyranomons went about their business, leaving the three digidestined and their partners. Kari and Salamon quickly told their new friends about the mission that they were tasked with, locating the reborn Digidestined.

Wormmon rested on Ken's shoulder. "So, you're really Koushiro Izumi?"

Ken nodded. "Yes, my memories are starting to return about my time as Izzy. It's actually a very unique experience."

"Wait a minute," Cody said, "Does that mean that I'm a reborn Digidestined too?"

Kari thought for a minute. "Well, the Digidestined died about fifteen years ago. Ken, you're fifteen, right?"

The black haired boy nodded. "Yes, I am."

Kari nodded. "So, I'm guess that all of the reborn digidestined are fifteen. I think you're too young."

"Oh," the younger boy said, looking at the ground.

"But that doesn't mean you're not a digidestined!" Armadillomon said,"I wouldn't be here if you weren't."

Cody smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You have done extremely well!"

The group spun around and saw that a cloaked figure had appeared behind them. "Who are you?" Kari asked.

The figure chuckled and smiled, even though neither the digidestined nor digimon could see. "My name isn't important, but you can call me Ryo."

Kari nodded. "Okay, Ryo, what are you doing here?"

"I have come to five you something, Hikari Kamiya." He reached into his cloak and pulled out a pendant shaped object hanging from a small chain. He dropped it into her palms.

The teenage girl looked curiously at the object. "What is this?"

"That is the Crest of Courage. It was once held by your brother."

She gasped. "You knew my brother?"

"That...is not important right now," he answered. "That Crest is now yours. Once you are able to activate it, you will be able to counter the Crest of Abandonment held by the Digimon Emperor."

Kari grinned and placed it around her neck. "Thank you."

Ryo bowed and started to walk away. "Wait!" Kari shouted, "How did you get this? Can you help me?"

"I have already helped you," he said, disappearing into the forest, "We will meet again. Farewell."

The two other digidestineds looked at the object in Kari's hands. "You're going to have to explain about that too," Cody said.

Kari turned to him, then started laughing. "Come on, we'd better get home."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

_Preview:_

_Kari decides to relax and watched the school's basketball game with her friend Yolei. They meet one of the players, Tk Takashi. Both Yolei and Tk and pulled into the Digital World and once again Kari is called to rescue them. But are either Yolei or Tk who they claim to be?_

_Next: "Digimon Emperor: Love Returns." Sometimes, even our closest friends are connected to us in deeper ways._


	3. DIGIMON EMPEROR: Love Returns

It's Kari again. I was having trouble making it to class on time because of my trips to the Digital World. I was always running into Davis, I wonder why he kept oversleeping?

Anyway, a kid from my school, Ken Ichijoji was pulled into the Digital World along with a younger kid named Cody Hida. When I met up with them, they were already on the run from the Digimon Emperor. We made it to a cave where Ken and Cody found their digimon partners and we discovered that Ken was really Izzy Izumi! One Digidestined down, five to go!

_Sometimes I wonder about myself……… _

_Wonder why I am the way I am……… _

_I know I can be annoying at times……… _

_And selfish……… _

_But I like to think……… _

_Then I'm a good person deep down……… _

_That I'm a compassionate person……… _

_I know that's confusing and contradicting……… _

_It feels like there are two people inside of me sometimes……… _

_Am the selfish person everyone sees………? _

_Or the selfless person I want to be………? _

RWR Chapter 3:

DIGIMON EMPEROR: Love Returns

The small Koromon charged out of the village as the dark ring-wearing Airdramon fired streams of lasers into their homes. A squad of Monochromons under the evil rings' powers attacked on the ground by smashing what little was left of the buildings. The Koromons and Agumon watched in horror as their home burned to the ground. The Digimon Emperor laughed with extreme delight at the destruction.

One of the Agumon twirled around to stare at the cape-wearing human standing atop a Monochromon. "You find this funny?" he shouted, "you think this is humorous? You destroyed our homes! We've lived here all of our lives, and now we don't have any where to live and it's all your fault!"

He was about to leap at the Digimon Emperor, but two other Agumon held him back. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "Why are you doing this, huh? At least answer me that."

The Emperor laughed. "This land now belongs to me, and as such, it is mine to do with as I please." He grinned, "And it's my pleasure to place a dozen of my Control Spires along this land!" He pulled a whip from behind him and cracked the ground in front of the Agumon. "And you'll be building them! Ha!"

Tsukaimon floated onto his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be going?"

The Emperor looked at his watch. "You're right. Make sure these Agumon are organized. I want building to start immediately."

"Yes sir."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari lightly tapped her pencil against her desk as she stared out the window. So much was going through her mind. She now had the Crest of Courage to use against The Digimon Emperor's Crest of Abandonment. All she had to do now was figure out how to use it. Somehow, she figured that it was not going to be easy.

"Hey, you're here on time."

Kari turned and saw her friend smiling at her. "Hi, Yolei."

The purple-haired girl grinned as she sat down next to her. "I'm surprised you're here already, lately, you've been running in at the last minute."

Kari shrugged slightly. "I just got up earlier. When you don't stay up 'till three in the morning, it's easy to get up early."

Yolei chuckled. "What were you doing up at that time?" She grinned slightly, "Was it a boy?"

Kari blushed. "Yolei, I do not have a boyfriend, you know that."

Yolei pushed Kari's shoulder lightly. "Maybe it's about time."

"Like who?" she asked.

Yolei shrugged. "I don't know. How about Davis?"

Kari stared at her. "You're kidding, right?"

"What?" she asked. The two girls looked to the corner of the room where Davis was leaning back in his seat, snoring loudly. "I admit, he's a bit of a doofus, but he's not that bad looking."

Kari shrugged. "I don't know…"

"Come on," Yolei said, "You're sixteen-years-old and you haven't even been on a date yet!"

Kari sighed. "There are more important things in this world then boys, Yolei."

"Like what?"

"Like fighting against a megalomaniac who wants to control a world that my older brother died in," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" she forced a smile.

Yolei just shook her head. "Are you going to the basketball game tonight?"

She slapped her forehead. "I totally forgot! Oh man!"

"Ya know," the purple-haired girl said, "You have been acting…'off' lately. Is something going on at home?"

She just shook her head. "It's too confusing right now."

"Whatever. So, are you going or not?"

Kari hesitated for a second. She was going to test out her new Crest of Courage, but ever since she became a Digidestined, her free time had been cut in half. She figured that a few hours would not hurt.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

Five hours later, she was sitting on the bleachers in the gymnasium, staring at the boys basketball team as it danced into the last minutes of the game. She and Yolei stared with extreme interest as Davis led the team down the court towards the other basket. "See!" Yolei said, " Davis is a great athlete."

Kari just shook her head. "No thank you."

Yolei grinned and pretended to faint. "Oh! Oh!"

"What are you doing _now_?"

The purple-haired girl pointed to a boy that was on the opposing team. A blond boy who had just stole the ball away from Davis and darted between the Odabia team and scored a three-point shot, bringing his team into the lead. "Wow!" Yolei grinned, "He's amazing!"

Kari moved her head to try and see. "Who?"

Yolei squinted so she could see the name printed on the back of the jersey. "Takashi."

The brown haired girl finally spotted the boy in question. "Wow," she said, "He does look…familiar…"

"Kari!"

She turned her in the other direction and saw a familiar brown haired boy walking towards her, trying not to trip over the other spectators. She smiled and waved at him. She mentioned to Yolei. "Yolei, this is Ken. Ken, Yolei."

Ken bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you."

Yolei waved. "Likewise."

Ken mentioned to Kari. "Um, I've got a message from Geni. There's a problem."

Kari nodded. "Um, Yolei, I've got to go."

The purple-haired girl nodded. "Sure. I'll see ya' tomorrow."

Kari saw the way that she was staring at Takashi. "You're going to talk to him, aren't you?"

"Yup!" she grinned, "I'll tell you about tomorrow."

"Whatever. Come on, Ken."

After the game, Yolei stood by the outside entrance of the boys locker room, waiting for Takashi to emerge. Unfortunately, Davis appeared first. "Oh, hey, Yolei, waiting for me? But where's Kari?"

"Buzz off, Davis!" she snapped, pushing him out of the way, "Where did Takashi go?"

"What?" he asked, "Why do you want to see him for?"

She did not answer as the boy in question walked up the stairs. She ran over. "Hi..Takashi right?"

"Uh, yeah, but I guess you can call me Tk," he said, "Who are you?"

"My name is Yolei. I was watching you play tonight. It was really great!"

_"Jeeze!"_ Davis thought, _"She sure works fast! What does she see in that guy anyway? He's just some show off!" _

"Really?" he said with a smile, "'cause I was a little off."

"You didn't look it to me.

Tk was taken aback slightly. "Um, s..sure, I guess."

"No, I mean it. You're a great player!"

He smiled. "Thanks. Do you, uh, play anything?"

She frowned and shook her head. "No, I'm…"

"Very clumsy," Davis said, pushing her out of the way. "Hey, the name's…"

"Motomiya," Tk bowed.

"How did you know that?" Davis gasped, "Oh, I bet you studied up on the best player of the opposing team, right? You studied my moves and all of my skills right?"

"He saw your name on the back of your jersey, you idiot!" Yolei sneered, pushing back in front of Tk. Her demeanor instantly changed. "So, Tk, do you want to do anything this weekend?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. Why not?"

She squealed in delight. "Do you want to walk me home?"

Davis cleared his throat. "You know, Yolei, we both live in the same building, so I was thinking that maybe…"

She elbowed him in the stomach, then mentioned to Tk. "After you."

Davis stared at Tk as they walked around the corner.

Yolei smiled as she stared at Tk. He turned slightly and saw her. "W..what?"

"Oh, um, so, do you live around here?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I live with my mother a few blocks away."

"What happened to your father?"

"He's divorced, I mean," he smiled slightly, "They're divorced."

"Oh, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm all alone, it's very lonely sometimes."

"You're lucky," Yolei sighed, "I'm the youngest of four kids. I hate being the youngest, I hate having other siblings! Sometimes I just wish that I could be an only child."

Tk looked at her. "You'd miss your brothers and sisters if they weren't with you."

She nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

The couple walked past an electronics store that was displaying a desktop computer on the front window. The screen blinked and beeped before a pyramid of light emerged and enveloped the two teenagers. They were both pulled through the monitor before it silently returned to normal.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Kari followed Ken into the computer lab. "How were you able to get in here after hours?"

He smiled slightly at her. "I help the computer faculty in programming their computers."

"Do you get paid for that?"

He shrugged. "Maybe…"

She grinned. "Alright. What did you want to tell me?"

Ken sat down and quickly logged into his e-mail account. He clicked on a message from Geni and read it for Kari. "Attention..Attention! The Digimon Emperor has attacked a large trading village in the Western Islands. The village is being destroyed right now and more Control Spires are being erected! The citizens need your help!"

"Alright," Kari said, "Where's Cody?"

"He went on ahead, with Armadillomon and Wormmon."

Kari nodded. "I'm going home to get Salamon, then I'll meet you there."

Ken nodded. "Right!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei rubbed the back of her head as she sat up. "Wow, what happened?" She glanced around and gasped in shock. She was no longer in the city, it looked like she was in a forest, but how did she get here. And what happened to..?

"Tk?" she shouted, jumping to her feet, "Tk!"

"Yolei, I'm right here."

She twirled around and saw him walking towards her. She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "How come you're wearing different clothes?"

He looked himself over. He was no longer wearing his high school uniform, but a long-sleeved shirt with yellow sleeves and a pair of green shorts. "I wonder how that happened?" He looked at Yolei. "Hey, you'd better check yourself over too."

"Huh?" The purple-haired girl ran over to a small lake and looked at her reflection. Her uniform was gone as well, and she was now wearing a yellow helmet and a red body suit. "How the heck did this happen?"

Tk shrugged. "I don't know. Where are we too?"

Yolei shook her head. "Sorry. I don't have any idea."

Tk quickly looked around the forest, then spied a tall, pyramid shaped building in the distance. "Maybe we can find some answers there?"

She nodded. "Alright, after you."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Kari ran through her bedroom door. "Salamon!" she shouted, "Salamon!"

Her digimon partner poked her head out from under the bed covers. "Kari," she yawned, "I was sleeping!"

"There's no time for that." She grabbed her digivice from her purse and pulled her partner to the computer that was resting on her desk. The monitor instantly logged to the Digital Gate. The main portal showed an image of the city that was being demolished by the Digimon Emperor. She was about to hold her digivice to the screen when she noticed a smaller box on the side. "Wait, what's that?"

She moved her mouse over to that small box and double clicked. The main portal changed to an image of a forest where two familiar teenagers were climbing the stairs of a pyramid. "It's Yolei! And that other kid! How did they get there?"

Salamon looked at her partner's face. "What are you talking about?"

Kari sighed. "I think I can get there, but what about the city?....Yolei doesn't have a digimon, I can't just leave her there." She lightly tapped her chin, "I'm sure Ken and Cody are at the city by now, but they haven't been fighting as long as us. Oh, Salamon, what should I do?"

The small digimon shrugged. "Help your friends. We can rebuild the city, and digimon are always reborn, but you humans get hurt too easily."

Kari sighed and held her device to the screen. "Digi-port open!" The Gate filled the room with light and pulled Kari and Salamon through the screen. Kari felt her school uniform peel away from her body, replaced by her Digital World uniform. When the light faded, she found that she was at the base of the pyramid that she had seen Yolei and Takashi climbing up. She started running up the stairs. "Come on Salamon!"

When she reached the top, she saw that there was a small stone room resting on the top. She jumped through the door and saw Yolei and Takashi standing inside. They both twirled around and Yolei gasped. "Kari? What are you doing here? And what are you wearing? You look like a pole at a barber shop!"

"And you look like you're about to be shot out of a cannon! How did you two get here?"

"We don't know," Tk said, "What is this place?"

"This is the Digital World," Kari explained, "And if you two were pulled here, then it means that you are Digidestined." She glanced around the stone room until she found a small alter that had a white egg with blades on both sides resting on it. She ran over, then looked over her shoulder at the two teenagers. "This is a Digi-metal, and it's one of yours."

"What do you mean?" Tk asked.

Kari mentioned to Yolei. "Try lifting the egg."

"Me?" she asked, "Well, alright." She walked over to the white egg. She gripped both sides tightly and pulled. The egg come un-attached easily and a geyser of red light exploded upwards. A large red bird appeared in the beam, before flying down at the purple-haired girl's feet.

"Greetings! I am Hawkmon, your Digimon par-what's wrong?"

Yolei was now on the ground, gripping her head tightly. "My head! It's on fire!"

Tk was going to run over to her, but Kari stopped him. "Just wait, she's remembering."

"Remembering what?"

"Her past life."

Yolei screamed in one final burst of pain, then was silent. She stood up and looked at Kari and Tk. "I…I remember! I was Sora Takenouchi!"

"What are you talking about?" Tk asked, "You were who? What do you mean?"

"It's a really long story," Kari sighed, "But we've got to help my friends, and….and…and…." Her eyes rolled into her head and she fell onto the ground.

"Kari!" Salamon shouted. She ran over, but her head suddenly felt heavy and she fell to the ground as well. Yolei, Hawkmon and Tk soon followed, all fainting onto the ground.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Ken and Cody stood outside of the destroyed city's parameters. "Where is Kari?" Cody asked.

"I don't know," Ken said, "I think she should have been here by now."

Cody sighed as he stared at the scene in front of him. Most of the city was gone, and its in place was a giant black tower situated directly in the center. "They're going to be building more soon. If we get rid of that tower, those digimon that are under the control of the Dark Rings should return to normal." He turned to Ken. "What should we do?"

Ken sighed. He looked at the digimon resting on his shoulder. "Wormmon, we might have to do this without Kari. Could you be ready?"

He nodded. "I'm ready if Armadillomon is."

The digimon that was on the ground, said, "You bet'cha partner!"

"All right, Cody, let's do it."

The younger boy nodded and joined Ken in shouting, "Digi-armor energize!"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to Submarimon! The Reliable Guardian of the Sea!"

"Wormmon armor digivolve to Searchmon! The Shields of Knowledge!"

The Digimon Emperor's Dark-Ringed servants started scrambling around the city as Searchmon and Submarimon began their attack. "Remember, don't kill them!" Ken shouted, "They don't know what they're doing!"

"Right!" Searchmon shouted. "Jamming Hertz!" He fired a cylinder of electricity from the large shield on his back that swept across the Dark Rings, causing them to malfunction and fall harmlessly to the ground. The freed digimon did not wait for any command; they instantly fled from the scene. Soon, the Digimon Emperor's entire force of enslaved digimon were gone.

The two digimon stared up at the Black Obelisk towering in front of them. "All right!" Searchmon shouted, "It is time to bring this tower down."

"This is too easy," Cody mumbled.

"I know," Ken said. He looked up to watch as his digimon brought the Control Spire down, but shouted out to him.

"Searchmon, watch out!"

Both digimon looked up and saw a large creature slam onto the ground, throwing them backwards. Ken and Cody stared with mouths open. The creature had a large blue body with a small head for a right hand and a massive skull for a right hand. "What is that thing?"

"Greetings humans! I am Deltamon, loyal servant of the Digimon Emperor. You will be destroyed for daring to oppose my master!"

"We are not bowing in front of any false regime," Submarimon said, "Oxygen Torpedos!"

Deltamon swung his small head/hand and grabbed Searchmon and flung him in front of the attack.

"Searchmon!" Ken shouted.

"My apologies!" Submarimon shouted, "Are you okay?"

"I am functional," he answered. He crawled along the ground until he hid behind the black tower. He watched until Deltamon was in range, then fired his Jamming Hertz to try and hit the Dark Ring. Unfortunately, he missed. All he was successful in doing was revealing his position. Deltamon swung to grab him, but Submarimon tried his attack again. This time he was able to injure the digimon, but not enough. The large digimon jumped into the air and slammed into the ground again. This caused both digimon to flip onto their back. He did not waste more time and fired his attack. "Now, I have you!" he laughed.

"Searchmon!" Ken shouted.

"Submarimon!" Cody screamed.

Deltamon stepped closer to attack again when he suddenly stopped. The two humans and their partners watched in awe as the Dark Ring fell to the ground. A teenage boy and a small digimon jumped out from behind a pile of debris.

Deltamon shook his head a few times. "Woa, what happened?"

"You were under the control of the Dark Ring." the boy said," But don't worry, you're okay now."

"I feel so awful," Deltamon said, "Can I do anything?"

The boy pointed to the tower. "Can you destroy that?"

"It would be my pleasure!" He started to pound the Control Spire until it crumbled to dust.

The boy nodded. "Thanks a lot." He turned to his partner. "Let's go." They quickly ran out of the city and into the forest. Ken and Cody tried to call out to him, but he vanished amongst the trees.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari slowly opened her eyes to the sound of someone shouting her name. "Just a few more minutes, Mom."

"Kari!"

She snapped her eyes opened and saw Salamon pushing on her side. "You're finally awake. No wonder your mother is so mad at you for sleeping in all the time!"

"Very funny," she said, sitting up. "Where are we?" She looked around and saw that she was inside of a metal cell.

"K..Kari?"

She spun around and saw that Yolei and Hawkmon were in the cell as well. "Are you two okay?"

"I think so," she answered, "What happened?"

"You were poisoned with sleeping gas. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

The turned to see Tk standing outside the cell. "Thank god!" Kari sighed, "Quick, get us out!"

He grinned wickedly. "No."

"No?" Yolei gasped, "Why not?"

Tk just continued to grin as a black skinned digimon with large bat ears slowly descended from the ceiling and landed on his shoulder. Kari lowered her eyelids. "It's you."

Tk laughed as his clothes melted into a familiar costume. "I am the Digimon Emperor!"

"Why are we here?" Kari shouted.

He pointed to Yolei. "I knew she was the newest Digidestined and I wanted her! Then you showed up and ruined my plans!"

He looked at the purple-haired girl. "You can reign along side me as my queen! What do you say?"

Yolei shook her head. "I don't know you really well, but enslaving innocent digimon is wrong!"

Tk sighed. "I guess there's no way around this then. Goodbye."

Yolei spun to Hawkmon. "Let's do it!"

"Digi-armor energize!"

**Hawkmon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Love began to twirl around in synch "Hawkmon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in red light, as the images of Biyomon, Birdramon and Garudamon flashed behind him The red light receded to reveal two metal wings The light receded to reveal a large four-legged bird, who flipped in the air and landed perfectly on the ground**

**"Halsemon, The Wings of Love!"**

"Armor digivolution!" The Emperor shouted, "My anti-evolution powers don't work against it!"

"Your bad!" Yolei grinned as she, Kari and Salamon jumped onto Halsemon's back. "Get us out of here!"

"Tempest Wing!" He fired a red blast that destroyed a section of the wall, allowing them to flee. Tk kept his eyes on them until they disappeared over the horizon. "This isn't over yet…This isn't over!"

The digidestined met back on Earth, Ken and Cody in Ken's school's computer laboraty; the two girls in Kari's room. The black haired boy quickly called Kari to give her an update.

"Are your guys okay?" Kari gasped into her phone, "We got sidetrack. I was just about to head to the city."

"We're fine," Ken said, "We destroyed the Control Spire, well, someone else did. I'll tell you about it later."

"All right. See ya' later. Bye." She hung up and turned to Yolei. "Sora, huh?"

Yolei nodded. "Yeah. Thank you for awakening me. You're going to have to get me up to date."

There was a knock on the door. "Kari?" her mother asked, "Is Yolie there?"

"Yeah?"

"Her mother called. She wants her home."

Yolei bowed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye."

After she left, Kari turned to her partner. "Another Digidestined. I wonder whose next?"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_The Digimon Emperor is revealed to the Digidestined as a kid their own age. Kari is determined to help him, but when she and the Emperor are captured by a mysterious group interested in studying them, will they destroy each other before escaping? _

_Next: "Digimon Emperor: Specimens of Science." What secrets lie hidden within? _


	4. DIGIMON EMPEROR: Specimens of Science

Hey, Kari here again. The Digimon Emperor had destroyed a city to build another control spire. I was about to head to help Cody and Ken, but I was sidetracked when Yolei and this boy named Tk Takashi ended up there. Cody and Ken were in trouble, but someone saved them and destroyed the Control Spire. Meanwhile, I arrived where Yolei and Takashi were. Yolei found her digimon partner, Hawkmon and found out she was the reborn Sora Takenouchi. Not only that, but Tk is the Digimon Emperor!

_I've been wondering about who I am lately………_

_I don't think I was supposed to be this way………_

_Sometimes at night, I like to think I'm someone else………_

_Someone who was liked, someone who had friends………_

_Is this what it means to go crazy………?_

_I am mad, am I insane………?_

_Or am I more than what I think………?_

DIGIMON EMPEROR: Specimens of Science

The sun slowly began to set behind the horizon, transforming the sky into a mixture of red and orange. This kaleidoscope cast an odd rainbow of colors into the school computer lab that were beginning to bother Cody's eyes. He closed the blinds. "That's better."

Kari looked over Ken's shoulder as his fingers danced across the keyboard. "So," she asked, "What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm trying to use the basic programming of computer language to try and construct a map of the Digital World."

"Uh, okay," she said.

Cody was standing beside her. "He's going to make a map of the Digital World appear on the monitor."

"Oh. I knew that," she said with a smile.

She looked over her shoulder and saw that the digimon were clustered together in a corner, playing with a deck of cards. "Who taught them how to play poker?"

Salamon looked at her. "What do you think I do when you're at school?"

Kari frowned. "Have you lost any money?"

All of the digimon looked at her. "What's money?" they asked at the same time.

"Never mind."

The door opened and Yolei came running inside. "Sorry I'm late," she said, placing her bag down, "Mom wouldn't let me leave until I finished cleaning my room."

She opened her large gym back to allow Poromon to crawl out. "About time," he said, "I was getting stuffy in there."

She dropped her digimon next to the other digital monsters, then stood beside the other teenagers. She looked over Ken's shoulder so she would be able to view what was displayed on the monitor: an image of a grouping of continents covered with black and white squares. "So, what are we looking at?"

"The Digital World," Ken said, "Those black squares are the Digimon Emperor's Control Spires."

"There's so many of them," Cody said in awe, "What are those towers for?"

"They block digivolution," everyone answered.

"I know that," he said, "I meant why he is so afraid of having digimon digivolve?"

"He's probably afraid of them fighting back," Yolei said.

Kari frowned. "We've got to start destroying those towers. If the're all knocked down, then maybe the digimon can fight back."

"That might take forever," Salamon said, "'Specially since we can only armor digivolve."

Kari turned to her, "Is regular digivolving stronger?"

She nodded. "Most times."

Kari looked at her watch. "I've got to get home. Mom's expecting me. C'mon Salamon." She lifted her partner and put her into her bag. She waved. "See ya' tomorrow."

"Good night, Kari."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Even though it was late afternoon in the Digital World as well, the idea of winding down for the day was far from the mind of the Digimon Emperor. As soon as he was released from school, he entered a Digital Gate and continued his conquest of the Digital World.

His agenda for today involved erected Control Spires in the Northern regions of the Digital World. His army of Dark-Ring controlled Frigimon guarded the area as his Gizamon slaves trudged through the snow.

Tsukaimon flew over to his partner. "Tk, we've secured the area. Every Gizamon is working hard."

"Good," he grinned, "What about the test subject?"

Tsukaimon mentioned to the sky. Tk looked up and saw a squadron of his Dark Ring controlled Airdramon lowering a Kabuterimon that was bound and tied together. "Ah," he grinned, "Excellent. Take him back to base."

Tsukaimon nodded and ordered the Airdramon to bring the prionser to the lab in the Emperor's base.

Tk watched the construction of the control Spires. "Have you had any luck locationg any Destiny Stones?"

"I think we found one," he said, "In the desert."

Tk nodded. "Excellent. Once my Fusion project is complete, those stones are history." He suddenly heard a whistle in the air. He fell to the ground seconds before an explosion rocked the area.

"We're under attack!" Tsukaimon shouted.

Tk looked at the sky. "What is it?"

"A Unimon," Tsukaimon said, "Nothing that we can't handle."

Tk grinned as he held up his digivice. "Let's show them what we can do."

"Tsukaimon digivolve to Devimon!"

The black devil hovered into the air and met the flying Unimon. "Stop now!" he ordered.

The Unimon ignored Devimon and open his mouth to fire a ball of energy at a Control Spire. "Aerial Attack!"

"Stop, now!" Devimon demanded.

The Unimon was about to attack again, but Devimon did not give him the chance. "Touch of Evil!" His hands glowed with dark electricity as he slashed his claw into the unicorn's back. He gave a scream and spiraled into the ground. Devimon landed next to him. Tk ran over a second later.

"Well?" the Digimon Emperor asked.

Devimon moved aside Unimon's mane to see the back of his neck. He sighed when he saw the bar code on its skin. "It's SEED."

"Damn those jerks," Tk growled, "Those Dark SEED soldiers are beginning to become a severe problem."

Devimon regressed to Tsukaimon and landed on the Emperor's shoulder. "Are we ready to head back?"

Tk nodded. "Yes, let's get…" He was not able to finish as a Kuwagamon shot up from the ground and slammed his claw into TK and Tsukaimon, throwing both of them to the ground. The Kuwagamon grabbed Tk and Tsukaimon with his claws and flew into the air. The wind caught his hair and blew it aside, revealing a bar code on his neck.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Kari walked into her apartment and gently placed her bag down. "Mom?" she called, "Dad?"

"I'm in the kitchen, Honey."

Kari removed her shoes and lifted her bag again. She walked down the small hallway until she reached the kitchen area. Her mother was inside, chopping vegetables that she poured into a pot of boiling water. Kari walked in and sniffed the air. "Mmm, smells good. What're ya' making?"

"Seafood Bisque."

"Seafood Bisque?" she asked.

"Don't worry, you'll like it."

"Ah."

Her mother put the lid on the pot and whipped her hands. "Your father and I are going out tonight."

She smiled. "Really?"

"Yes," Mrs. Kamiya laughed slightly, "Now the soup is for dinner. I'll finish it before we leave. Make sure you do your homework."

She sighed. "All right."

"I mean it. I don't understand why your grades have been slipping."

"I could tell you, but you wouldn't believe me," she muttered.

"What?"

"I'm ah, going to do my homework," she said, walking into her room. Once she was safely inside, she opened her bag to allow Salamon to jump out.

"I was getting stuffy in there," she said, shaking herself like a dog.

Kari laughed slightly. She removed her school uniform and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless light pink shirt. She dumped the contents of her book bag onto the table. "Is that your homework?" Salamon asked.

She nodded. "Yeah," she sighed, "And unless I pass my next test, Mom's gonna ground me until I'm old enough to graduate." Before Salamon could even open her mouth Kari said, "I'll explain it to you later."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm not going to be much company for the next few hours," she sighed, "Why don't you take a nap or some…Salamon?" She turned and saw her partner digimon was already fast asleep. She chuckled slightly, and then started her homework.

A few hours later, she smiled with pride as she closed her text book. She had finished her homework, just as she had promised her mother she would. She leaned back in her seat and stretched her hands above her head. "Oh man, I'm beat," she sighed. She turned and saw that Salamon was still asleep. She got up and walked into the kitchen. Her parents had left an hour ago, and she had already eaten, so what was she supposed to do now?

She walked back into her room and switched on her computer. "I wonder who's on-line?" she said, intending to enter a chat room. When her device completely loaded, the Digital Gate program appeared on the monitor. However, the image that usually appeared in the monitor now showed an image of the person she knew as the Digimon Emperor, strapped to a metal table.

"What happened to him?" she gasped. Before she could do anything, however, the image changed to an overhead view of a dark forest.

"What was that about?" she asked herself, "The Digimon Emperor was captured? But, who did it? Should I even care, or...?" She debated to herself for a long while before lightly pushing Salamon. "Wake up!"

The small digimon shot awake. "What?"

"We have to go, something's happened."

After quickly explaining what she saw, Kari and Salamon entered the Digital World. They arrived in front of a large black tower. "I bet the Digimon Emperor is inside of there."

Salamon nodded. "How do we get inside?"

The teenager was about to answer when a loud screeched was heard from behind. The two girls turned around to see what creature could have made such a horrible noise, and stared as a massively dark figure dropped from the sky. It's black hands enveloped Kari and Salamon, throwing both of the girls into unconsciousness.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"That's odd," Ken mumbled.

Wormmon crawled onto his shoulder. "What's odd?"

The teenager was looking at his grid map of the Digital World. "Control Spires appear to be disappearing." He moved his mouse over a small section of the Easter continent. He clicked a few times, and the black square enlarged to give Ken a magnified view of the area. He gasped at what he saw; like a stack of dominos, a line of Control Spires were falling, one after the other.

"What does it mean?" Wormmon asked.

"It means that someone in the Digital World is destroying Control Spires." He gave his partner a slight smile, "Do you think we should check it out?"

"Why not?"

Ken opened his chat room, hoping to locate Yolei and Cody. He was in luck, not only were they all ready on-line but they were also in a chat room together.

KeIch has logged on.

Mialia: Ken, is that you?

KeIch: Yes. There's a situation in the Digital World, we should probably investigate.

Kendo-student: What about Kari?

KeIch: She's having enough trouble with her school work as it is. We should probably just let her finish. If there's trouble, we'll call her.

Mialia: She keeps falling asleep in class too. Let's give her the night off.

KeIch: I'll meet you two there.

KeIch has logged off.

Mialia has logged off.

Kendo-students has logged off.

When the trio and their digimon arrived in the Digital World, they found that they had appeared underneath a familiar black obelisk. "That's a Control Spire," Cody said, "Ken, what's going on?"

"Someone is destroying these towers," Ken explained, "This tower is in the direct line. I'm sure that whoever it is, will appear soon."

They nodded and scanned the area they were inside of. "You know," Yolei said, looking at the evening sky in the horizon, "This is a very beautiful place. I had forgotten."

Hawkmon looked at her oddly. "I didn't know you were here."

"I was," Yolei shook her head, "I mean, Sora was. Oh jeeze, this is going to get complicated."

"You mean, your memories of Sora as starting to come back?" Cody asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I don't remember everything yet, but there's one thing that I can't forget about," she sighed slightly, "Sora and Taichi Kamiya were in love."

"Kari's older brother?" Cody asked.

"Yeah." She closed her eyes as the pleasant memories came to her mind, "We were in love. We were young but…we knew that we were meant for each other."

Ken nodded. "I can vaguely remember from Izzy's memories, something about a pyramid?"

Yolei shivered slightly. "Uh, no, I don't remember anything like that."

The three digimon suddenly gasped. "What's wrong?" Ken asked.

"Something's coming!" Wormmon shouted.

The three humans turned to the sky and watched as a giant red beetle flew through the trees of the forest. The three digidestined could only watch as an army of Airdramon emerged a few seconds later and began firing their laser attacks at the beetle.

"What's going on?" Cody shouted.

"That's a Kuwagamon," Armadillomon said, "But why is he getting attacked?"

"Dark Rings!" Yolei shouted, "Those Airdramons are wearing Dark Rings!"

Before the digimon could evolve to their armored forms, the Airdramon were successful in destroying the Kuwagamon. One of the Airdramon was carrying a metal jar at the end of his serpentine body. He swung it around and pointed at the Kuwagamon's data. The digidestined watched in horror as the beetle's data was pulled into the metal jar, which closed tightly after all was inside.

Cody was in shock. "They..they killed him?"

"Yeah," Yolei nodded, "I can't believe it." She growled and clenched her fists, "We've got to go after them!"

They were about to run through the foreset, when one of the Airdramon was suddenly propelled back out of the trees. The digimon sailed over the heads of the digidestined and crashed into the Control Spire. The black tower cracked along the base and crumbled into dust. A small figure ran out of the forest a second later. He scanned the area. "Where did that Airdramon go?" he asked.

Wormmon mentioned to the remains of the Control Spire. "It crashed into that."

"Really?" the figure grinned, "Wow, I've got a good shot."

"Veemon!" another voice shouted from the forest, "Veemon!"

"I'm right here."

Another figured emerged from the forest, this time a teenage boy. Ken and Cody both gasped. "You're the one that saved us the other day!" Cody shouted.

"Oh, you're back, huh?" the boy asked. He looked over Ken and Cody's shoulders to the girl that was standing behind them. "Yolei?"

"Davis?" the purple-haired girl gasped, "You're a digidestined?"

"You're a digidestined?" Davis gasped, "How long have…that's not important right now. Listen, does your team have another girl?"

"Yeah," Yolei said, "Kari."

"Kari?" Davis gasped, "Kari Kamiya? She's here too?"

"Yes," Ken nodded, "She's our leader."

Davis shook his head. "Alright, me and Veemon heard a rumor that a girl was capture near a dark forest. We were going there right now."

"If that was Kari, we have to help her," Cody said.

Davis nodded. "You can fill me in on the way."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When Kari opened her eyes, she was aware that her head was giving her a serious, pounding ache. "Oh, man," she groaned, trying to keep her eyes closed to reduce the amount of pain. It did not work.

She tried to raise her hand to rub against her forehead, but found that she was not able to lift her arm. She opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on a metal table with her arms and legs trapped underneath metal bars. "Salamon!" she shouted, "Salamon, where are you?"

"Karis?" she heard a weak voice call out. The teenager looked to the left and saw another, smaller table where her partner was lying.

"What happened?" the small digimon asked.

Kari turned to look back at the black ceiling, "I don't know."

She heard a slight moan from beside her. She turned to the right and saw another table with another teenager strapped to it. "It's you!" she gasped.

The Digimon Emperor stared at her. "So, they got you too, huh?"

"Where are we?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Why do you do it, huh?" Kari asked, "Why are you doing this to the Digital World?"

"My reasons are my own," he snapped, "I was meant to rule this world! That's all you need to know."

The lights in the room suddenly turned on. The prisoners could see that they were in the center of a room filled with machinery that resembled equipment found at a doctors office. A man wearing a white lab coat entered the room. "Ah, you are all awake, good." He turned he back to them and Tk was able to see a bar code printed on the doctor's neck.

"You're part of Dark SEED!" he shouted.

"Dark what?" Kari asked.

The man nodded. "Yes, I am. My name is Dr. Yazuna."

"Why are we here?" Tk asked, "I demand to know right now!"

"Very well. You two have the greatest potential out of all of the other Digidestined. I'm here to gauge that power, to see how much of a threat you may later pose. If you'll excuse me, I have to finish preparing." He turned back around.

Tk turned to his right where Tsukaimon was attached to smaller table.

Kari whispered to Tk. "What's Dark SEED?"

Tk sighed, "They're a society in the Digital World that have been giving me a lot of trouble lately."

Kari smiled slightly, "So, they're good guys, then?"

Tk glared at her. "They captured you, didn't they?"

She frowned. "Well, maybe, but that can't be any worse then you."

Dr. Yazuna walked back towards the prisoners. He moved Tk's bangs out of the way and lightly dabbed his forehead with a cotton ball full of alcohol. He then did the same with Kari. "Um," Kari said, "What are you doing?"

Dr. Yazuna reached above them and pulled down a metal headband that he wrapped around both of the teenager's foreheads. He made sure that a small screen on the inside of the headband was resting on the alcohol dapped foreheads. "I'm just going to try to register the level of Digital energy that your body is giving off."

Tk watched as he walked back to the machine he was standing at before. "And how are you going to do that?"

"By sending an electric shock through your bodies."

"What?" Tk shouted.

"Engaging," Yazuna said. He twisted a dial on the control board.

Tk and Kari suddenly became streaming in intense pain as their bodies were shot full of electricity. Tears came to Kari's eyes as her muscles became white with pain. Tk tried to fight it, but the pain became too much for him to bear, and he screamed.

"Easy, easy,' Yazuna said, turning the dial back around. "All is necessary for science." He looked at a computer monitor that was attached to the wall. The screen began to display lines of information. "Now, let's see what we can….." He started laughing.

Kari and Tk looked at each other. "What's so funny?" Tk asked.

"You don't even know do you," Yazuna laughed, "You have no idea what's really inside of you, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Kari shouted.

Yazuna kept laughing. "This is actually very humours."

"Stop it!" Kari screamed, "I'm not your lab rat, and I'm not your personal joke!" The digivice on her belt began to shower the room in pink light.

"Kamiya?" Tk asked.

At her side, Salamon's body suddenly started to course with energy. "Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

"She digivolved?" Ken shouted, "Of course, there aren't any of my Control Spires here!"

When Salamon digivolved, her body may have only become slightly larger, but it was enough to break the metal bars that kept her attached to the table. "No!" Yazuna shouted, "Stop them, Ogremon!"

"Ogremon?" Gatomon asked. A large green goblin charged out of the darkness of the room. "Ahh, Woodmon."

The green digimon swung a large club at the small feline, but Gatomon leapt out of the way. Ogremon's attack destroyed created a large crater in the ground. The shockwave was enough to flip the metal table that Kari and Tk were trapped on to fall onto their sides. The metal shackles became undone and the teenagers and Tsukaimon were freed.

"You idiot!" Yazuna shouted.

"Don't worry," Ogremon said, staring at Tsukaimon and Gatomon, "I'll stop them."

He charged forward and was about to swing his club when he stopped. "Do you hear that?"

The left wall was suddenly blown apart as a blue digimon pounded his head through the cement and bricks. "V Head Butt!"

"Kari!" Yolei shouted, "You're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, mentioning to V-mon, "But who's this?"

"He's my partner," Davis said, running inside.

"You're a digidestined?" Kari shouted.

"That's right," he said, staring at her chest, "And you have the Crest of Courage."

"Yeah, so?" she asked.

Ken looked around the room. "What happened in here?"

Kari spun around. "That guy…wait, where is he?"

"Where's who?" Armadillomon asked.

"Yazuna," she said, looking around the room, "Where did he go?" She sighed, "Well, at least we have the Digimon Emperor." She turned to talk to Tk, but found that he was missing as well.

"Oh man, we lost him too!" she sighed.

Davis chuckled slightly. "So, Kari, since we're both digidestined, maybe this means we can spend a little more time with each other?"

Kari sighed. " Davis, I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Oh, sorry," he said.

"Don't worry about the Digimon Emperor," Gatomon said, "He'll show up again, and then we'll get him."

Kari sighed. "He's not who I'm worried about."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yazuna and Ogremon walked slowly down a long hallway, illuminated by a few lights hanging above. They entered a room at the hallway's end that resembled a throne room, with a large seat in the center, made of brick stone. A figure wrapped in robes sat on that elegant chair.

"Sir?" Yazuna asked.

"Did you complete your report?" the figure asked.

Yazuna bowed. "I was not able to finish my analysis, but I did discover something I thought you would want to see."

The figure nodded. "Okay, let's see."

Ogremon handed him a manila folder. The figure opened it and quickly read the report that was inside. He started laughing, "So, they've returned, huh?"

"Yes, sir," Yazuna bowed.

The figure on the throne grinned. "Keep your eye on them. We will make our move soon, and, when the time is right, I will crush the Digidestined with the power of my Crest of Spirit! No one will escape when Dark SEED attacks!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk kicked the door to his own throne room open as he and Tsukaimon walked inside. "Dark SEED is going to pay for doing that to me! Me, the Digimon Emperor, a common lab rat!"

Tsukaimon hovered over to one of the monitors that were littering the room. "Tk, you've got to see this."

He walked over and stared at the monitor. His face twisted into a grin. "It's complete! Those digimon technicians finally did something right!" His grin widened as he watched a massive creature struggling against the chains that attached it to the wall. "The Digital World will fear my coming, with my ultimate creation…Kimeramon!"

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" _

_Preview: _

_The Digimon Emperor sends his destructive creature, Kimeramon to attack the Digital World. The Digidestined arrive but will they be able to stop a creature of almost mindless destruction? In the midst of this struggle, Kari and the Digimon Emperor finally face each other. _

_Next "Digimon Emperor: Awakening." Are we the person we display or the person buried inside? _

Author's note: I'm trying to find out the names of the four great dragons of the Digital World. I know that Holydramon, Goddramon, and Megidramon are three of them, but if anyone can tell me the name of the fourth, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review.


	5. DIGIMON EMPEROR: Awakening

Hey, it's Yolei! I guess it's my turn to fill you guys in. Last time, Kari and the Digimon Emperor were captured by this mysterious scientist, who started testing them because he said they were the strongest. Meanwhile, I noticed that Control Spires were starting to be destroyed and when we went to investigate, we found that Davis was the one doing it! Turns out, he's a digidestined too, and his partner's Veemon! Go figure, huh? Anyway, he helped us rescue Kari and Tk, but get this, the doctor's part of this group called Dark SEED, and they're not done with us yet!

_I've been wondering about the world……… _

_You know, like, what's my place in it………? _

_I want to be a hero, save the world, get the girl……… _

_You know, like in the movies……… _

_I know real life isn't always like that……… _

_But, I can't be a hero if I'm not strong enough……… _

_I need to get stronger, but how………? _

_I want to become the hero I always wanted to be……… _

_But what makes a hero………? _

DIGIMON EMPEROR: Awakening

The small Gotsumon dove into the air to avoid a blast of light that destroyed the ground where he was standing only moments ago. The force of the explosion twisted him around in mid-air, so he fell hard onto his back. He could clearly see the destruction of his village: his home burning in the background, his fellow Gotsumon running in terror. He felt his heart began to beat even faster as he saw a dark figure loom over the city. The creature was coming!

He jumped back onto his feet and continued to run. He had to make it out of the city and warn other villages and towns. They would have to put together an entire army if they needed to, this creature could certainly destroy a few Champion digimon, maybe even Ultimates!

He ran into a section of the village that had not yet been attacked. He was so focused on escaping, that he tripped on a small rock and landed on the ground once again. He looked over his shoulder and saw the beast was almost overhead! The massive monster opened his mouth.

"Heat Viper!"

The Gotsumon covered the back of his head with his hands. The beast's attack missed him, but now the entire city was on fire. The creature was right over top of him, but it might attack again. If he moved, he was sure to be spotted, but he was not safe there. He took a deep breath and sprinted back to his feet.

He looked over his shoulder and saw that the creature was flying in the other direction, it had missed him! He breathed a sigh of relief and disappeared into the forest surrounding the village. "I have to tell Gennai," he said, "He's got to know about Kimeramon!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Kari adjusted her gym uniform as she ran around the soccer field. She did not understand why some gym teachers thought that by running laps, their students would be ready for a class crammed full of sports activities. It always mad her so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.

She mingled with the other students until she found Yolei, who was having a difficult time running this session. "What's wrong?" the brown-haired girl asked.

Yolei huffed. "I was up pretty late last night. That unscheduled trip to the Digital World cut into my homework time. I didn't want my grades to drop like yours, so I was up until after midnight."

Kari frowned. "Thanks a lot," she sighed.

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is."

"Yeah, well, you don't.." she was abruptly cut off when Davis ran past her. '

The teenage boy turned to look at her. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, that's okay," she said.

He smiled as he looked around the soccer field. "Isn't it great having gym last period? I mean, you get all worked up playing sports, and then you can do what you want with the rest of the afternoon! Ready to head into the Digital World? There's still a lot of Control Spires to knock down!"

Kari shivered. "After being used as an experiment, I'm not going to be comfortable in that world again."

He chuckled slightly. "Don't worry, I'll always protect you."

She sighed. " Davis."

The gym teacher blew his whistle. "Okay guys, that's enough! Hit the showers!"

Davis nodded to the two girls. "I'll meet you in the hall."

Kari panted as she waved to him. She followed Yolei into the girls' locker room and began to undress. Kari pulled off her gym shorts and t-shirt and folded them into her bag. She pulled on her undershirt and went to grab her green skirt, when she noticed Yolei. The purple-haired girl had already removed her gym clothes and was wearing nothing but her undergarments. Kari could not help herself as she watched her friend pull on her white shirt. Yolei's hands seemed to move in a poetic fashion as she pulled up her skirt and attached it around her waist. Kari was not sure why she kept staring at Yolei, but she could not turn away. She felt a strange feeling inside of her; it started at her stomach then slowly moved to her chest. She was completely lost in Yolei's movement until the purple-haired girl turned to her. "Kari?"

The brown-haired girl snapped back to reality. "What?"

"Aren't you even dressed yet?" she asked, "The bell's going to ring."

"R..Right." She quickly pulled up her skirt and then pulled over her green top. As she followed her friend out of the building, her mind thought back to the strange event that had just occurred. _"That was really weird! Why was I looking at her like that? It was almost like I was…No, that can't be! I'm just stressed out, that's all" _

The two girls met Davis in the hall. "Are you two ready?"

Kari nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The trio of digidestined walked through the halls until they reached the computer lab. Their digimon were already there, hiding in the small cabinet underneath the shelves.

" Davis!" Veemon shouted. He looked at the two other digimon, "I knew it was you!"

"So what?" Salamon asked, "You can use your nose, big deal!"

"I agree," Hawkmon nodded, "We can all use our sense of smell."

Yolei chuckled. "You're all like a bunch of kids."

The digimon stopped at stared at them. "But, we are," Hawkmon said, "We're just like you."

"What?" Davis asked.

"He's right," Veemon said, "We're only about as old as you are."

"Really?" Yolei asked, "That's..weird."

Kari looked at Salamon. "So, you're as old as me?"

"Kinda," the digimon said, "It's complicated."

She chuckled slightly. "Okay, I'll take your word for it."

"Are we ready to go yet?" Davis asked, "I'm ready to kick some Emperor butt!"

"Hold on," Yolei said, sitting down at one of the computers, "Let me e-mail Ken and Cody and let them no what's going on."

"Hurry up!" Davis whined, "I'm getting bored!"

"I'm done," the teenage girl said, holding her digivice up to the monitor. The Digital Gate appeared a second later. "Are we ready?"

"Yes!" Davis and Veemon shouted.

"One more word and you're gonna get an elbow in the ribs," she growled.

"Just open the gate," Kari said.

"Fine," she sighed, "Digi-port open."

The group was deposited into an area of complete destruction. Trees were toothpicks, littering the grass-less ground. Buildings had been completely annihilated, and whatever was left was nothing more then dust. "Where are we?" Kari gasped.

Yolei had her mouth open in shock as she looked around. "I don't understand! This should be a digimon village."

"Are you sure?" Davis asked, investigating a pile of debris, "This place looks like it's been like this for a long time."

"Help! Help me!"

The group instantly quieted as they heard the voice.

"Help!"

"Where did that come from?" Kari asked.

Veemon pointed to the distance. "I think it came from him."

"Who?" Davis asked.

"That Gotsumon."

"What's a Gotsumon?"

The teenage boy received the answer to his question when the stone digimon came charging into view. When he saw the group, he stopped in shock. "Humans?" he gasped, "You're digidestined?"

"Yes," Kari answered, "What were you running from?"

The Gotsumon spun around and pointed to the sky. "Him!"

The watched in horror as a massive creature appeared in the sky. "What the heck is that thing?" Yolei shouted.

"It looks like Frankenstein's Monster!" Davis shouted in response.

"In-correct, as usual!"

Kari frowned in anger as she recognized the origin of the voice. She scanned the skies until she found the teenager she was searching for. The Digimon Emperor and his partner were riding on an Airdramon, who was hovering next to the creature. "What do you mean, Tk?" Kari asked.

Tk laughed. "This creature is far from being the mistake that Frankenstein's Monster was! For example, I have made sure that this creature does not have any pesky emotions to deal with! He's completely loyal to us, and my mission, destroy any rebellion to my rule!"

"But what is it?" Yolei asked.

Tk laughed again. "Allow me to introduce my greatest creation, the unstoppable, Kimeramon!"

"Kimeramon?" Salamon asked, "I never heard of that digimon before."

"Because I just created it, fool! This fully digivolved digimon is comprised of parts from the strongest digimon in the Digital World! May I present, Greymon's body Garurumon's legs, Kabuterimon's head, Airdramon and Angemon's wings, Monochromon's tail, Kuwagamon, SkullGreymon and Devimon's arms, and Metal Greymon's hair. With this incredible array of power, Kimeramon is totally indestructible!"

"I doubt that!" Davis shouted, "No matter what, we'll beat you!"

"He's right!" Kari shouted. She turned to her partner. "Are you ready?"

Salamon nodded. "Yes!"

"Digi-armor energize!"

"Salamon armor digivolve to Lynxmon! The Fires of Courage!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to Holsemon! The Wings of Love!"

**Veemon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Friendship began to twirl around in synch "Veemon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in blue lightning, as the images of Gabumon, Garurumon, Weregarurumon and Metalgarurumon flashed behind him The lightning receded to reveal two paws with sharp claws The lightning receded to three sharp horns Lightning crashed behind the large canine digimon**

**"Raidramon, The Storm of Friendship!"**

Kari and Yolei looked at Davis. "Friendship?" Kari asked.

"Where did you get that?" Yolei asked.

"I don't think now's the time," he said.

"He's right," Tsukaimon shouted, from Tk's shoulder, "When you face Kimeramon, you need your full attention!"

"He doesn't scare us!" Davis shouted, "Raidramon, attack!"

"Thunder Blast!"

A stream of blue lightning exploded from the blades on Raidramon's back and crashed into Kimeramon.

"You're next, Lynxmon!" Kari shouted.

"Thermal Mane!"

Her ball of flame slammed into Kimeramon's face, exploding into slivers of dying embers.

"You're turn, Halsemon!" Yolei cried.

"Eagle Eye!"

The bird digimon fired two arrows from his eyes which deflected into the ground once they impacted with Kimeramon's body.

"What's going on?" Raidramon gasped.

"None of our attacks had any affect!" Halsemon shouted.

"What do we do now?" Lynxmon asked, "We should have at least hurt him, but nothing happened!"

"Of course not!" Tk laughed, "I told you, he's unstoppable! Now, Kimeramon, show them how its done!"

The evil Ultimate digimon quickly used one of his set of hands to pound Halsemon into the ground. Lynxmon and Raidramon jumped to their friend's aid, but were rewarded when Kimeramon grabbed the feline with the left Devimon hand and the bird with the right Devimon hand. He slammed both digimon together, then pounded both of them into Halsemon. The digidestined called out to their human partners to no avail. All three digimon lay on the ground, unmoving.

The Digimon Emperor crossed his arms, his face becoming serious. "Now, Kimeramon, destroy them!"

The three teenagers and their digimon partners stared in horror as the mighty beast opened his equally impressive mouth. A ball of red energy began to form inside of his giant jaw. "Goodbye Digidestined," Tk said, "I wish I could say it's been fun. Now, Kimeramon!"

The fused digimon screamed. "Heat Viper!"

The destroyed city was instantly enveloped within an explosion of intense light. The last thing that Kari, Davis and Yolei were able to hear was Tk's laughter, an insane, evil laugh, before their eyes were covered by darkness.

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" _

_Venom Myotismon's bone-white teeth were pulled over his pale, colorless lips in a contorted image of a grin The giant mega towered over the digidestined and their digimon Each one of the human's digimon partner's had been defeated by the evil behemoth, and all hope seemed lost _

_"So," Venom Myotismon laughed, his voice booming over the city, "Any more hopeless attempts to destroy me?" He roared with laughter "You can't stop me! You are nothing! Nothing! You were never a match for me, never! Your pathetic attempts to annihilate me have only helped me digivolve to this form! I am unstoppable!" _

_Far below him on the destroyed rubble of a city street, the digidestined and their digimon stared up at the towering Venom Myotismon Each one attempted to draw to the surface enough power, enough courage, enough strength to stand against him, but each one let their fears and hopelessness overtake them They stared at the ground in defeat, except for one solitary figure _

_Taichi Kamiya stood proudly and determined as stared up at the yellow-haired demon With courage that seemed to flow from deep within him, he bravely stepped away from the others _

_"Tai!" Sora Takenouchi shouted, "Where are you going?" _

_"Tai!" Yamato Ishida screamed, "Don't be stupid! He'll tear you apart!" _

_He ignored every comment and continued to stare at Venom Myotismon The evil mega laughed "And you do you think you're going to do, you weak, pathetic, _human!"

_Tai growled with anger and the crest that hung around his neck exploded with orange light "What's this?" Venom Myotismon shouted _

_"We are _not_ pathetic!" he screamed, "What we are, is invincible!" _

_His faithful Agumon stood loyally by his side His body was suddenly overflowing with orange energy He had never felt such power before, his body could not handle, he needed to get stronger! _

_"Agumon warp digivolve to Wargreymon!" _

_The digidestined digimon stared on in awe as Agumon's new form floated above them "Another mega?" Izzy asked, "This is incredible!" _

_Venom Myotismon stumbled back in horror, "A digidestined has a mega? No, how can this be?!" _

_"Because you don't understand humans at all!" Tai shouted, "You think you're above us, which is why you'll never understand how truly powerful we are! Wargreymon, obliterate him!" _

_Wargreymon held his palms close together, forming a massive ball of orange light above his hear, "Terra Force!" _

Kari shot awake, sweat pouring from her face. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "It was just a dream, just another one of those…those weird…weird dreams…" She suddenly realized that she did not know where she was.

She looked around her surroundings. She was not in the same area that she had been in before, Kimeramon's attack would have certainly created a crater of some kind, but there was nothing. In fact, she was lying in the center of a garden filled with flowers and long blades of grass; a small fountain off to her side was creating a mixture of pleasant sounds. Unless Kimeramon's attack had managed to _create_ a beautiful garden out of a destroyed city, she had been moved by someone.

She rose to her feet and began to walk around. "Salamon?" she shouted, "Yolei? Davis?"

"Kari! Over here!"

She turned around and saw that her friends were seated in a large gazebo. Her faithful partner charged over to her. "You're okay, Kari!"

"Yeah," she smiled, lifting Salamon in her arms, "I'm fine." She looked back at the gazebo and saw that the other members of her group had run over to her. Ken and Cody were there as well.

"I'm glad you're okay," Cody said.

"What happened?" Kari asked.

Ken answered. "I guess it was a good thing that we all didn't come here at the same time. Cody and I came to the Digital World as soon as we got your message. We found you in a giant crater, unconscious, but alive, thankfully."

Kari frowned. "It was that digimon."

"Kimeramon," Davis answered. He slammed his left fist into his right palm, "Damn it! That Digimon Emperor's got to be stopped!"

"How?" Veemon asked. "Kimeramon took our best attacks, and he didn't even flinch!"

"We can't give up," Kari said, "We're going to have to try something! Wait, where did that Gotsumon go?"

"I'm right here," he said, emerging from the gazebo.

Kari smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Come here."

He nodded and walked over to her. "Yes?"

"Why did the Digimon Emperor attack your village?"

"He was looking for the Destiny Stones."

"Destiny Stone?" Cody asked, "What's a Destiny Stone?"

"Legends say that there powerful stones that help balance the Digital World. I don't know how many there are, but something bad will happen if they are all destroyed."

"That's good enough for me," Yolei said, "Do you know where any of them are?"

"My village had the location of one of the stones. The Emperor stole that map, but I know where that Destiny Stone is."

Kari nodded. "Then take us there. "

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk and Tsukaimon laughed from atop the Airdramon they were riding. Kimeramon continued to blaze a path of destruction across the Digital World. "With this Ultimate beast, no one can stop me!" he roared with laughter, "No one! I will become the greatest being in the Digital World! Hahahahaha!"

Kimeramon's eyes slowly shifted to stare at Tk. Unbeknownst to the Digimon Emperor, Kimeramon was not the loyal subject he thought he was. It was only a matter of time before the synthetic digimon broke free of Takashi's control.

Tsukaimon propelled himself from Tk's shoulder and hovered in front of his partner's face. "Don't you think it's time to find that Destiny Stone?"

Tk grinned wickedly. "Of course, you're right. Once again, I have you to thank for keeping my focus! Kimeramon, we have bigger fish to fry! Follow us!"

Kimeramon growled and fell in line behind the floating Airdramon. He followed him across rivers and valleys until they reached a large, lush forest. "This must be the place," Tk grinned, "But I don't see anything that looks like a Destiny Stone."

"Me either," Tsukaimon said, "If only those trees weren't in the way."

Tk laughed. "I get it. Kimeramon, incinerate this area!"

The synthetic digimon opened his jaw. "Heat Viper!"

The mighty blast of fire smashed into a large tree in the center of the forest. It instantly exploded into flames, slivers of flames crashed into the other trees. Soon, the entire forest was on fire.

"That's it!" Tk laughed, "Burn, destroy, annihilate! Yes!"

"Tk," Tsukaimon called, "I think I see something."

The Digimon Emperor squinted his eyes in order to see an object in the flames. His mouth slowly twisted into a smile as she spied a large stone. "Yes! That must be the Destiny Stone! Kimeramon…"

"Tk! Stop this!"

The Digimon Emperor stopped laughing and stared at Kari and the others, all squished atop Halsemon and Searchmon. "Well, if it isn't the Digidestined. I must give you my compliments on surviving Kimeramon's attack, but I assure you, my beast won't miss twice!"

"Tk!" Yolei pleaded, "Don't do this! You're a Digidestined, just like us! You have a responsibility to help protect this world!"

"I rule this world!" he shouted, "Who would dare think of opposing me? Well, except for you fools, that is. You're soon going to understand exactly what happens to those that dare to oppose me!"

Davis clenched his fists. "It doesn't matter! Whatever you throw at us, we'll stop you!

"You're nothing but a bunch of pathetic fools!"

Kari's mind twitched at her memory of her brother fighting Myotismon. "Pathetic.." she mumbled.

Yolei turned to her. "What Kari?"

Kari growled as she clenched her fists. "We are not pathetic! We are invincible!"

Tk was taken aback slightly. He had never seen this gentle, kind, brown-haired girl act so…demonic before. Yes, that was it, Hikari Kamiya seemed suddenly possessed by a demon of anger, of war!

Salamon felt the power flowing from her partner as well. "I'm..digivolving!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

Tk started to grin. "Kimeramon…..no, no. I think we should take care of this ourselves." He grabbed his digivice. "Now!"

"Tsukaimon digivolve to Devimon!"

Gatomon jumped onto Devimon's back and started to dig her claws into the devil's black skin.

Tk whipped open his hand.. "Kimeramon, destroy that stone!"

"Get us to the ground!" Kari ordered. She looked over her shoulder. "Gatomon, don't let him beat you!"

Her Champion level digimon was grabbing Devimon's horns and pulling back as hard as she could. "Don't worry," she hissed, "I'm not going to!"

Kari jumped off of Halsemon's back before the bird digimon had even touched the ground. "I want you to protect that stone," she ordered.

"What about you?" Davis asked.

She glanced over her shoulder again and saw that the Airdramon the Digimon Emperor was so fond of riding had landed on the ground. Tk jumped off and stared at Kari. "I've got to talk to him." She ran towards the self-proclaimed ruler of the Digital World.

"Kari!" Yolei called after her.

"Just protect that stone!" the brown haired girl shouted back.

Yolei sighed as she turned back around. The large Destiny Stone was hovering a few feet off the ground, with a ring made of strange material strapped around it. The purple-haired girl judged by the writing that the ring was a protective charm. "Okay, we have to protect it, then that's what we'll do."

At her side, Halsemon shivered slightly as a large shadow suddenly appeared over the stone. "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

She looked for the source of that shadow and felt a slight chill herself. "Kimeramon."

The evil hybrid growled as he used his two sets of arms to grab the Destiny Stone and pull it closer to his face. His sinister mouth opened wide, his throat already forming the massive amount of heart and energy needed to unleash his primary attack. "Heat…"

"Quick!" Davis shouted, "Attack him now! His face, aim for his face!"

Each of the armor digimon present fired their attacks at Kimeramon's head, protected by Kabuterimon's helmet.

"Blue Thunder!"

"Eagle Eye!"

"Oxygen Torpedoes!"

"Jamming Hertz!"

The energy of the attacks merged together to create a whirling cyclone of power. This blast of energy was on target with Kimeramon's head, and was powerful enough to cause the evil synthetic digimon to move away from the Destiny Stone. He stared down at the armored digimon with hate in his eyes.

"Uh oh," Cody said, "I think we made him mad."

"Hybrid Arms!" Kimeramon shouted. His two set of arms stretched forward like elastic and snatched the armored digimon: Raidramon in the Kuwagamon arm, Halsemon in the SkullGreymon hand, and Searchmon and Submarimon in the Devimon set. He smashed all four digimon together, and they crashed into the ground.

"Not again!" Davis groaned.

"Don't worry," Raidramon said, climbing to his feet, "I'm okay. I'll be fine." He stared at Kimeramon, "And I'm not giving up. Blue Thunder!"

Kimeramon swatted the lighting attack away with his SkullGreymon arm, and then used his Kuwagamon arm to pound the armored digimon into the ground.

While the battle to save the Destiny Stone continued, Kari and Tk stared with extreme interest in the small war between Gatomon and Devimon. The white feline was still on Devimon's back, and jabbed her claws deep into his back. The evil digimon roared out loud and slammed into the ground. Gatomon grinned in triumph from the devil's back. "Yeah!"

Tk frowned, then laughed. "Ha! My Crest of Abandonment will power-up Devimon even further. No one can stop us!"

The medallion hanging around his neck began to glow a dark blue. Gatomon felt a strange feeling in her stomach, and she glanced down at Devimon's head. Even though the devil was head first in the ground, she could see him grinning wickedly. With lightning fast speed, he spun around to jump on his feet. Gatomon was flung off of him and landed at Kari's feet. "Gatomon!" she called in worry.

The white feline jumped back onto her feet. "Don't worry, I'm fine." She did not even give her partner a chance to respond before she jumped back into battle.

"Lightning Paw!" she shouted, charging at the grinning devil with an outstretched claw. Devimon easy grabbed her paw and swung her into the ground. He jumped into the air and slammed his elbow into the feline's stomach.

"Gatomon!" Kari shouted.

Her partner struggled to reach her feet, but Devimon trapped her small body underneath of his large claw. "So much for your great power, huh?"

Gatomon tried to break free from Devimon's evil grasp, but the power of Abandonment was too strong. Tk laughed as his crest glowed on his chest. "No one can defeat me! I am the Digimon Emperor! Come on, Kamiya, give into your fear, your worry, your despair. Don't fight it, I know you're scared, just let it out and give up."

Kari looked down as her partner, trapped underneath Devimon's hands. She was ready to submit to him, but a power seemed to well up from inside of her. She did not know what it was, a strange feeling that started in her chest and moved all across her body. "No."

Tk stopped laughing and stared at her. "What did you say?"

Kari stared at him with a determined expression on her face. "I am not giving up! I have never bowed down before, and I'm not about to start! I am not afraid, and I'll never give up!" The Crest of Courage that hung around her neck exploded in a bright orange light. The glow grew brighter and brighter until the area was almost completely covered.

Devimon stared at her in amazement until he heard Gatomon call out to him. "Devimon.."

He looked at the feline. "What?"

Gatomon grinned. "You might want to more your hand! I'm about to digivolve!"

"No!" he shouted.

**Kari's Digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to an orange hue It fired a beam of light from its screen up to her Crest of Courage The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Gatomon**

**"Gatomon digivolve to…"**

**Gatomon's body turned to white and shot upward Her body became more human, she lost her tail, and grew long hair She lost her left glove and a ribbon twisted around her arm She lost her right glove and an arm length glove flew on her arm, angel wings appearing A boot shot on her left foot, while on the right side, a suit of fabric appeared, following her new human curves up her whole body to her head, where a metal helmet shot over her eyes**

**"Angewomon!"**

The glowing angel hovered in front of the evil devil. "Devimon, you and your partner have brought continuous horror and fear to this world. You must now suffer the wrath of every digimon and human who has suffered under your cruelty!"

Devimon glared at her. "To borrow a phrase from your partner, I'm not afraid!"

Angewomon's face was completely unemotional as she answered her opponent. "You should be. Prepare to face your punishment!" She pointed both of her hands out at Devimon, then quickly opened her hands, creating a wave of light. "Heaven's Charm!"

The wave of light was flung forward, enveloping the screaming Champion. He tried to hold himself together, but the Fully Evolved digimon's attack was too powerful. Devimon screamed as his body was torn asunder.

Tk watched in horror as his body exploded apart. "Devimon!" he screamed. He was slightly relieved when he saw a small figure crash into the ground. He charged over and stared at the small crater and the familiar digimon resting inside. "T..Tokomon?"

The small white digimon weakly looked up at him. "T…Tk…?"

The Digimon Emperor grabbed his In-Training partner and hugged him tight. "T..Tokomon, you'll be okay. Please, don't leave me…"

Angewomon descended to land in front of her partner and regressed to Salamon. She looked at Tk and Tokomon with horror on her face. "I..I didn't mean to hurt him that much. Oh, Kari, what have I…Kari?"

She looked over her shoulder and gasped. The brown-haired girl was screaming out, the Crest of Courage glowing brighter and brighter. Over on the other side of the small battlefield, Tk's Crest of Abandonment was doing the same.

"What's happening?" Tk asked, staring down at his pendant, " My Crest of Abandonment is glowing to match the light coming from Kamiya's Crest of Courage! Why is this happening?" His Crest started to twitch and shake before expanding like a balloon. Light blue beams began to stream from his crest before it finally exploded, revealing a new crest underneath.

"What..just happened?" Tk asked in complete shock, holding the crest in his hands, "What is this? Why do I feel so..strange…?"

Just a few feet away, the other digimon were still battling Kimeramon. The synthetic digimon swatted the armored digimon like flies. After uselessly fighting against him, Raidramon and the others positioned themselves for one final attack.

"We need to attack, or else we're going to lose," Raidramon growled.

Searchmon nodded. "Okay," he panted, "I think I have enough energy for only one more offensive."

"Me too," Submarimon agreed.

"All right," Raidramon said, "On three. One..two..three! Thunder Blast!"

"Jamming Hertz!"

"Oxygen Torpedo!"

"Eagle Eye!"

The four attacks combined together and crashed into Kimeramon's chest, but to no avail. The evil digimon remained unharmed. He punched the group of digimon with simple ease, returning them to their Rookie forms.

"Veemon!" Davis shouted, "Oh no!"

"Hawkmon!" Yolei shouted, "Please, talk to me!"

Kimeramon growled in delight, then turned his attention back to the Destiny Stone. He grabbed the large stone with his four hands and brought it close to his mouth. "Heat Viper!" His stream of fire dug to the center of the large stone, causing it to explode. Down below, the digidestined shielded themselves from the hailstorm. "Oh no!" Yolei gasped, "He destroyed it!"

Kimeramon hovered over the decimated forest, grinning in delight. The digidestined stared up at him, unsure of what to do when they noticed a fierce light from behind them. They turned around and gasped at the sight of Kari and Tk, both on their knees and clutching their heads. Their crests were both glowing with the same intensity, Kari's orange Crest of Courage against Tk's new bright blue crest. "Kari!" Yolei called out, "Kari, are you okay?"

"What's wrong with Takashi?" Davis asked.

"They both look like they're in pain," Cody said, "But why?"

Kari had been screaming since the Crest first started glowing, and now Tk had joined with her. Both teenagers started to scream in a higher intensity as two transparent figures appeared around them, in the exact same position. "What's going on now? Davis gasped.

Ken stared at the figure that had appeared around Tk, that of a blond teenage boy. "Matt?" he asked.

Wormmon looked at his partner. "Matt?"

Ken nodded, his mouth open in shock. "That figure was Yamato Ishida! Tk Takashi is Matt? Yolei!" He turned to the purple haired girl and saw the shock in her face. "Yolei?"

The purple-haired girl was staring at the transparent figure that had appeared around Kari, an image of a brown haired teenage boy. One that Yolei recognized from when she was Sora Takenouchi, one that had been imprinted into her heart. "Tai! Kari is Tai?!"

Both teenagers gave one final scream before falling onto the ground, their digimon had been sent to unconsciousness as well. "Kari!" Ken shouted, running over to her.

"Is she okay?" Davis asked.

He nodded. "She still alive, what about the Digimon Emperor?"

Cody lightly pressed his fingers against Tk's neck. "He still has a pulse."

Up above them, they heard Kimeramon laugh with glee; a dark, deep laughter that sent a chill down the spines of the digidestined and their digimon. "Free! I'm free!" He flew into the sky and vanished.

Davis rose to his feet. "Ken, take care of Kari."

"Where are you going?" Cody asked.

"After him," Davis said, "I'll meet up with you later. Come on, Veemon."

The two partners ran across the wasteland, chasing a creature of pure darkness. If they could not reach the synthetic digimon in time, then the entire Digital World would die.

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" _

_Preview: _

_Kari and the Digimon Emperor are trapped within themselves, struggling to wake up from the sleep of their memories. With Hikari Kamiya still injured, it's up to Davis and Veemon to save the day. _

_Next: "Digimon Emperor: Gold Warrior." True heroism comes from within. _


	6. DIGIMON EMPEROR: Gold Warrior

This is Ken, while Kari is still unconscious; it's my job to tell you what happened. The Digimon Emperor unleashed a synthetic digimon called Kimeramon onto the Digital World. Kari, Yolei and Davis went to fight him in battle, but they were completely defeated. Cody and I arrived a few hours later and found them barely alive. When we finally caught up with the Digimon Emperor and his digimon creation, they were attacking something called a Destiny Stone. We weren't able to stop Kimeramon from destroying the Destiny Stone, but when Kari and Tk fought each other we discovered something shocking about them, they're both reborn digidestined! Tk is Yamato Ishida, and Kari is Taichi, her own brother!

DIGIMON EMPEROR: Golden Warrior

_The entire desert shook in a giant tremor as the explosion threw a geyser of sand straight into the night sky The sand that was not thrown aside from the mighty eruption, created a ripple effect in the desert surface, shooting outward in a wave motion When the explosion finally died down, there was not a sound in the entire desert_

_Taichi "Tai" Kamiya glanced at his companions "Did we win?"_

_Yamato 'Matt" Ishida shook his head slowly "I don't have any idea! I don't see anything, maybe he was vaporized?"_

_"He couldn't stand up against us!" Matt's partner, Metalgarurumon growled in delight_

_The two boys suddenly heard the third human in the group scream at the top of his lungs "Watch out! Behind you!"_

_Tai and Matt spun around in time to watch as a massive figure, cloaked in darkness, exploded from underneath the desert sands_

"She's starting to move!" Cody shouted, wanting to alert to the others.

The other digidestined quickly ran over to where Kari was lying on the couch in Gennai's living room. Each one looked on with worry and nervousness as the brown-haired girl shook violently. "Is she waking up?" Yolei asked.

Each one held their breaths until they saw Kari's movements slow down, then remain still. "No," Ken sighed, "I think she was just dreaming."

Gennai walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, carrying a small tray filled with food. He placed this down on the coffee table in the center of the room. "How are they doing?"

Ken mentioned to Kari. "She keeps having nightmares."

"Is she ever going to wake up?" Cody asked.

"She will," Gennai assured him, "But it will take some time. From what you told me, she used up much of her energy to cause her crest to glow. Her body needs time to recover."

"What about what we saw?" Yolei asked, "That image of Tai? Was that only because of the crest or...?"

Gennai shook his head. "I'm sorry, Yolei, but that image appeared because she _is_ Tai."

"You knew all along, didn't you?" the purple haired girl exclaimed.

"I had an educated guess," the old man smiled slightly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, but Kari had to discover on her own who she truly is," he explained in his calm, elderly voice, "If I had told her, she would not have truly awakened."

"Wait," Cody said, "Neither Ken nor Yolei had images of Izzy Izumi or Sora Takenouchi when their memories awakened, so how come Kari and Tk did?"

Gennai sighed slightly, attempting to think of an explanation. "I believe it is because their memories returned to them far too quickly. Their minds were suddenly jammed full of their memories and personalities that they had when they were Tai and Matt, but they were already weak from using their Crests. Think of it as a sore muscle, if it is overworked too quickly, it cramps. Kari and Tk Takashi simply have a 'cramp' in their minds. They are struggling to come to terms with who they really are."

Yolei looked down at the brown-haired girl with longing in her eyes. "So, she's Tai? The same Tai that Sora Takenouchi fell in love with? The same Tai that I fell in love with! This isn't fair!" she screamed, tears falling down her face.

Her partner hovered over and went to place a paw on her shoulder, but she batted it away. "None of you understand! None of you!" she cried. She charged out of the house.

The others that were in the room turned to Gennai. "Just let her be," he assured them, "She just needs time to sort out her feelings."

Ken nodded. "Something bothering you?" Wormmon asked.

"I'm worried about Davis?" he said, "He sure has been gone a long time. I just hope he's okay."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis kicked a branch that was blocking the path before him. "Darn it! How could we have lost something as big and destructive as Kimeramon?"

At his side, Veemon shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He mentioned to a straight path of fallen trees and overturned earth. "We'll just follow the trail of destruction."

"But we have no idea where he is!" Davis growled, "He could be a hundred thousand million miles away by now!"

"Not likely," Veemon said, "I don't think the Digital World is that big."

"You know what I mean," Davis sighed, "This isn't getting us anywhere! Man, I really wish you could fly."

"Sorry!" the blue creature growled.

Davis smiled slightly. "Hey, I'm not complaining about you, just this situation. I know you can't fly, but I bet there isn't another digimon faster then Raidramon on the ground!"

Veemon had his head turned away from him, but then turned it back, complete with a large smile. "Yeah!"

"Digi-armor energize!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to Raidramon! The Storm of Friendship!"

Davis climbed onto his partner's back. "Let's go!"

"You got it!" the large, armored dog creature growled, charging through the path.

As he felt the wind whipped against his eyes, Davis reached to the top of his head and pulled down his trusty pair of goggles. "Hey, Raidramon, do you remember when I found these goggles and the Digi-metal of Friendship?"

"Sure do," he answered, "It was the first day we met each other."

Davis's mind flashed back to the faithful day when he was pulled into the Digital World…..

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Davis!" Mrs. Motomiya shouted, "It's time to get up! I'm not telling you again!"

Davis mumbled a reply as he pulled the covers over his head.

His mother stood at the doorway to his arms, arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. "What was that?"

"Nothing, Mom," he sighed, reluctantly removing the covers.

"Good," Mrs. Motomiya said, "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." She closed the door after she left.

He yawned as he sat on the edge of his bed, slightly scratching his hair. He stumbled over to his closet and quickly pulled on his favorite shirt and jeans. After combing his hair, he went to grab his bag, which was lying next to his computer. As he swung the book bag over his shoulder, he noticed a slightly whirling noise. He turned back around and found that his computer had booted up on its own. He figured that he must have forgotten to shut it down the night before, and the jerking motion of grabbing his backpack liberated it from stand by mode. He just shrugged and had the intention of shutting it down. As his hands grasped the mouse, he saw that his mail center was on screen and he had a new message.

He looked at his watch. "I have a few minutes, why not?" He clicked on the message line, which was from someone named "Ryo Akiyama."

"_Greetings, Daisuke Motomiya_

_I am a friend in need of some help If you wish to realize your true destiny, click on the link below and use the Digital Gate program and enter the Digital World There you will meet your digimon partner, and embark on a journey which will make you a true hero_

_Ryo Akiyama"_

Davis raised his eyebrows. "A journey that'll make me a true hero? Sure, I'm there!" He clicked on the web address and his mail center was replaced by a strange, multicolored box. "This is the Digital Gate?" he asked.

The small image flashed brightly, enveloping him and when it faded, he was gone.

Mrs. Motomiya opened the door to her son's room. "Daisuke!" she shouted, "I told you to…? Davis?" She looked around the small room, but could not find her son. "He already left? Humm! If he didn't want breakfast, he could have just told me so."

When the bright light faded, Davis found himself standing in the center of a large cluster of rock formations and smaller mountains. "Great, where am I now?"

He scanned the wasteland, but could not find any sign of life anywhere. "How am I supposed to get back home? Face it, Davis, you've really done yourself in now." He took a deep breath, "Well, I guess there's nothing else to do but start walking."

He was going to simply walk in the direction he was facing, as he did not see anything special in any of the directions, He took a deep breath and begin to walk when he heard a loud squawk above him. He twirled his head upward and saw a large silhouette of a bird fly across the bright blue sky. When he did, he noticed the odd shape of one of the stone megaliths that was a few feet in front of him. The top of the large column of stone was carved in the shape of an arrow that pointed straight towards the ground. Davis grinned and ran over to the base of the stone tower. After examining the circumference, he found a small entrance near the base, a medium sized hole, the perfect size for a teenager, leading to a long tunnel. He knelt down and crawled through the tube shaped passage and emerged into a large cavern underneath the mountain area.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, "This is pretty cool, but why did I have to come under here?" He looked around the circular cavern before his eyes rested on a large egg resting on the side. Upon closer examination, he was able to determine that this egg was actually glowing! A slight pulsing glow, but a glow none the less.

"Weird," he said, lightly brushing his hand over top of it. Once his fingers connected with the top, the egg exploded in a blast of orange light. Davis fell onto his back and stared with amazement as the light faded to reveal a small creature standing in the egg's place. This blue creature lifted his head to stare at Davis.

"Hiya!" he waved.

Davis gasped for a few seconds before he was able to discover his voice, "Um..h..hi."

"My name's Veemon."

""I'm..Davis."

The blue creature nodded. "Davis, okay. Well, we should get started. Here, I guess this is yours."

Davis looked down at Veemon's hands. He was holding a odd-shaped device, which he handed to the startled teenager. "This is your digivice."

The teenager curiously held the object in his hand. "What does it do?"

"It connects you to me."

"Me to you?" he gasped.

Veemon nodded. "That's right. I'm your digimon partner. We're going to be working together for a while."

Davis stood up. "Um, okay, but, doing what?"

"Saving this world. You're a Digidestined, aren't you?"

Davis lightly scratched his head. "Um, I guess. Uh, why don't we get out of this cave first?"

Veemon shrugged. "After you."

The two partners climbed back through the tunnels and returned to the surface. Upon arrival, they gasped as they suddenly faced the end of a large yellow claw. "AH!" they both screamed and then instantly leapt out of the way. The top of the mountain behind them crumbled as it was torn into pieces.

Davis and Veemon turned to their attacker and saw a large humanoid creature with long arms and legs. Covering each of the hands of the creature were two gauntlets with long silver blades. "W..who is that?"

"My name is Diaboromon," he answered, "High Priest of Dark SEED. You will tell me the location of the Digimon Emperor."

"What's a Digimon Emperor?" Davis asked.

"Do not lie to me!" Diaboromon shouted, swinging the gauntlets into the ground, "Where is the Digimon Emperor?"

"Davis," Veemon said, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about!" Davis shouted.

"Then we need to get out of here!" Veemon responded, " Back into the tunnel!"

"But, there's no way out!" Davis protested.

"Yes, there is, hurry!"

The teenager looked to the evil digimon, then dove into the hole after Veemon. Diaboromon shot his elastic arms into the tunnel, but all he was able to hit was the ground on the other side, as Davis and Veemon were safely out of harm's way on the far side of the cavern.

"Okay," Davis said, "Any ideas?"

Veemon ran over to an image of a group of glowing stars that had been carved into the side of the cavern. He pressed one of the stars, and the wall crumbled to reveal another, much larger, tunnel. "We can get out through here, hurry!"

Davis was going to ask where the tunnel led to, but when he heard Diaboromon's roar, he fell in line behind the small blue digimon and ran down the tunnel. "I'm right behind ya!"

They ran for what seemed like hours before emerging inside of a square room with brick walls and a wooden ceiling. There were paintings attached to the walls and objects littering the floors. "Veemon," Davis asked in awe, "Where are we?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Davis, but that mark over there means this is a holy area."

Davis looked to where Veemon was pointing. Carved into the brick wall above the entrance to the tunnel was an image of a small star. "That mark?"

Veemon nodded. "Yeah, it means Light. It's one of the primary powers of the Digital World. This must be a church dedicated to the Goddess of Light. Rumor has it that after the powers of darkness grew stronger; the powers of light had to hide underground."

Davis glanced around and his eyes stopped on a medium sized object on the far wall. He walked over to examine it and found that it was an oblong shaped black egg with a spike emerging from the top. "Wow," he said, "I'd hate to meet the chicken that laid that thing."

When Veemon arrived his eyes opened wide. "That's a Digimetal!"

"A Digimetal?" Davis asked, "Okay, what does that symbol near the top mean?"

"Friendship," Veemon said. He looked around the church one again, "This is an area where the Digidestined must have hid!"

"Digidestined?" Davis asked, "You mean, those kids that fought that monster that appeared in the sky?"

Veemon nodded. "That's right. I heard that the Digidestined drew their powers from the powers of Light. That's probably why that egg is here."

Davis walked over to the chest that was lying on the floor. He pried it open and looked inside. Inside, there were piles of gloves, a large pink cowboy hat, a blue helmet, a yellow laptop, a medical bag, a pink bag filled with camping equipment, a diamond shaped pendant, but it was the goggles resting on top that caught his eye. "Wow, cool!" he said, grabbing them. He pulled them onto his head and turned to Veemon. "Well, what do you think?"

Veemon gave him a curious look. "Are goggles a popular thing to wear on Earth?"

Davis was going to answer him when the entire room shook violently. The wooden ceiling began to crumble. "We've got to leave!" Veemon shouted.

The teenage boy quickly grabbed the laptop, the pendant, and the strange digi-egg. "Where to?" he asked, "We're trapped!"

The wooden ceiling suddenly exploded apart as the spider digimon dropped into the room. "Diaboromon!" Veemon growled, "This is a holy place! How are you even able to be here?"

The evil digimon smirked. "I am a master of dark magic; do you think a puny spirit ward is going to stop me? Ha!"

"Forget that!" Davis shouted, "How did you find us?"

"I refer you to my first answer." He grinned as he raised his gauntlet covered hands. "Now, I also refer you to my first question. In case you've forgotten, I'll repeat it: Where is the Digimon Emperor?"

"We don't know!" Veemon shouted, "I was just hatched!"

Diaboromon prepared to attack with his gauntlets. "Prepare to die!"

Davis stood firmly as he stared at the evil digimon. "I'm not scared of you! Killing me isn't going to tell you where this Digimon Emperor is!"

"You're probably right," Diaboromon said, "But killing you might make an example to the other Digidestined."

"Other Digidestined?" he gasped, "You mean, there are more like me?"

"That's right," the evil digimon grinned, "Now, do you want to tell me where the Digimon Emperor is, or should I kill you and begin to terrorize the others?"

Davis whispered to Veemon. "If there are others like me, we should warn them."

"But how are we going to get out of here?" Veemon asked.

The goggle wearing teenager stared at Diaboromon once again, "I'm not scared of you. I'll get out of here and help the others. No matter what!"

The black eggs in Davis's hands started to glow a bright blew. "What's happening?"

"The Digimetal is activated!" Veemon gasped, "Your desire to help the others did it!"

"But what does it mean?" he asked.

Veemon grinned. "Watch! Veemon armor digivolve to Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

Diaboromon was in so much awe and shock that he had dropped the hands to the ground. "He digivolved! But how can that be? The Emperor's Control Spires prevent evolution!"

Davis stared up at the large canine form of Raidramon. "V..Veemon, is that you?"

"That's right Davis! I am now Raidramon, an armor digimon! Jump on my back, now and we'll get out of here!"

Diaboromon laughed. "Do you honestly think you're going to escape?"

"That's right!" Raidramon shouted, "Thunder Blast!" The spikes on his back shot bolts of lighting into a glowing ball, which was flung straight into Diaboromon's eyes. The High Priest shouted out in pain as Raidramon, with Davis as his passenger, leapt through the opening in the ceiling that Diaboromon had created. They arrived inside of another brick room like the one below it, except that this room had a door. Raidramon charged through it and emerged to the outside world. The armored canine spun around to face the doorway and the building attached to it. "It's a temple," Davis said in awe.

"One that's going to bury Diaboromon forever!" Raidramon shouted, "Thunder Blast!" His attack brought the temple to rubble.

"That should hold him for awhile," the canine said, "So, Davis, what's our next move?"

"We've got to find those other Digidestineds."

"They won't be coming just yet," a new voice said.

Raidramon and Davis spun around and faced a figure draped in a black robe that covered every inch of his body except for his head, which was revealed do to the hood hanging on his back. He bowed slightly. "Greetings Daisuke Motomiya."

"Who are you?" the teenager asked.

"I am Ryo Akiyama."

"You sent that e-mail!"

He nodded. "That's right." He smiled when he noticed the goggles strapped to Davis's head, "I see you have already found his goggles."

"_His_ goggles?" Davis asked.

"Taichi Kamiya's goggles," Ryo answered, "You were meant to have them, you see. You are his 'heir.'" He frowned as he looked at the armored digimon, "Although I am confused as to why you have the Digimetal of Friendship instead of Courage. Hmm…You may have Friendship because _he_ is currently not able to use it, but you should have Courage. Hmm…"

Davis gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

Ryo smiled slightly. "Sorry. I'm just rambling. Davis, if you wish to realize your true place in destiny, seek out the powers of Courage and battle the Digimon Emperor, the self-proclaimed ruler of this world."

"And what happens when I do?" he asked.

Ryo smiled. "You'll find out."

Davis was going to ask him another question, but a loud noise behind him caused him to twirl around. When he looked back, Ryo had disappeared.

The goggle-wearing teenager took a deep breath. "Well, Raidramon, is this normal for this place?"

"You haven't seen anything yet."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""''

Davis smiled slightly as Raidramon charged through the destroyed remains of the forest. "I didn't think anything could surprise me more then what I saw that first day, but Kimeramon changed all of that. We've got to find him, quickly!"

The armored canine stopped at the edge of a wide cliff and growled slightly as he stared into the sky. "Maybe he's up there?"

Davis looked into the night sky and saw a large floating object. It was a monstrosity, an ugly, unholy creation of bricks, circuitry and what looked like normal dirt and rock. "I don't know," he answered, "But it's worth a try. We've got to get inside of that thing somehow."

Raidramon turned his head to a high cliff that was almost level to the floating fortress. "There's our way."

"Do it," Davis nodded.

The armored canine charged along the edge of the mountain until he arrived at his destination, a cliff above the floating vessel. The teenager took a deep breath, "Alright, do it!"

Raidramon growled as he launched himself off of the cliff and landed safely on the hovering monstrosity. They quickly scanned the top of the fortress before discovering a doorway positioned on the outside of the large bubble at the end. "Let's go," Davis said.

Raidramon charged inside and disappeared into the darkness.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Gennai entered his living room to examine the sleeping Kari, who was lying on his couch, when he noticed that Yolei was sitting in his arm chair, staring at the unconscious girl. Hawkmon was at the purple-haired girl's feet, fast asleep.

The elderly man sighed as he approached her. "I thought you were sleeping?"

Yolei shook her head and mentioned to the guest room. "Ken and Cody are snoring. Besides, I couldn't leave Kari's side."

Gennai lightly tapped the brown-haired girl's forehead with a washcloth. "Aren't your parent's going to be worried when you don't come home tonight?"

Yolei shrugged. "We all told them we were staying at a friend's house tonight." She smiled slightly, "Too bad this kid doesn't exist." She sighed and turned to Kari. "How is she?"

"No change, I'm afraid," he answered.

She sighed again. "Gennai, why was Tai reborn as Kari?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot answer that. I'm not even sure how you were reborn, all I know is what I sensed."

She nodded sadly. "Will she ever wake up?"

"Yes. I can only assume that she, and Tk both, are trapped within themselves. They are experiencing their memories from their times as Tai and Matt." He sighed and looked to Kari. "I only wish I knew what exactly they were remembering."

_"Biyomon…" Sora's voice quivered as she knelt down next to her fallen partner She shot her head down and ducked as the cybernetic creature known as Datamon crashed into the wall behind her, the result of Etemon's forceful attack_

_The sinister monkey laughed "Tough break! Looks like I won again!"_

_"Its not over yet, monkey breath!" Datamon said He flipped over and grabbed Sora and_

_Biyomon. "Just wait! With their powers harnessed to my own I'll be more than a match for you! Ha!"_

_He hovered into the air and shot through the exit Etermon went to follow, but was blocked by Greymon, Ikkakumon and Kabuterimon Tai, Izzy, and Joe charged through the door and around the corner and stared at an electrified fence wall "Sora!" Tai yelled._

_"Tai!" Sora yelled back._

_"They've gone back out through the fire wall," Izzy noted, removing his trusty laptop_

_Tai scanned the electrified fence "Ok, The weak point was here, right?" _

_"Wait a minute!" Izzy protested, "Let me get back on-line to locate it"_

_Tai looked at his red-headed friend with a slight grin "What can happen? This isn't the real me"_

_"Don't test theories now, Tai!" Izzy shouted_

_Tai ignored him and begin to walk towards the wall Joe instantly came to Izzy's aid and wrapped his arms around Tai, preventing his forward movement "Pain still hurts Tai!"_

_Tai struggled to break free as Izzy continued to log onto Etemon's Dark Network "What are you thinking, Tai? That we're in a video game? That nothing can happen to us because these aren't our real selves?_

_"Yeah, something like that," he grunted as he tried to break free of Joe's grasp_

_"Our Digital selves are directly linked to our other selves back home!" Izzy shouted, finally realizing Tai's problem and intending to forcefully rectify it, "You need to be a lot more careful No telling what may happen If something happens here_

_"It happens there," Tai said, weakly Joe released his grip and felt the energy drain away from Tai The goggle-headed leader felt his entire world cave away from underneath his feet He had never felt this way before "II can't move!"_

_Izzy continued to type into his laptop "The weak point is one meter to your right"_

_Tai remained perfectly still "No way! Just one false move and it's over"_

_Joe stared at Tai He had never seen his friend like this before "Hey, Tai…"_

_Izzy noticed the change in his best friend as well "It's safe, Tai We came through it all right on the way in"_

_"Yeah, but then I didn't know that…"_

_"It's okay"_

_Joe took a step forward "Come on, Tai, we're wasting time Sora needs us"_

_"What's wrong with you?" Izzy asked_

_"Tai?" Joe asked_

_The brick wall suddenly exploded apart The three boys spun to stare at the large crater in the side of the wall Etemon laughed sinisterly as Agumon, Tentomon and Gommamon lay motionless on the ground Agumon lifted his head weakly "Sorry We held him as long as we could_

_Etemon chuckled "Now to finish off you kids and put an end to your annoying interference!"_

_The ceiling exploded a second later as Matt and Mimi arrived to rescue their friends Togemon and Garurumon distracted Etemon as the human children escaped All except for Tai, who remained in place_

_Matt ran over to his rival's side "Come on, let's move! Tai, what's wrong with you? Come on!" _

_After they had retreated to their camp site, Tai sat in the center of the accusing circle of his friends and hugged his knees "I don't get it!" Matt shouted, "When that creep grabbed Sora and Biyomon, why didn't you go through the fire wall after her?"_

_"I couldn't…I couldn't move…" Tai sobbed_

_Joe sighed reassuringly "It's not your fault Tai We're all in this together We'll find a way to get them back"_

_Tai did not hear him or did not want to hear him "It's all my fault! Sora! It's all my fault!"_

As Kari's mind continued to become flooded with Tai's memories, Tk was experiencing his own past memories. He too, was trapped within his own memories, desperately trying to find his way back to reality.

_"When I think of Tai, and Mimi, and Sora and the others, this place has changed them for the better It's almost like they digivolved"_

_"You may not see it Matt, but you've changed a lot"_

_"Please, Gabumon, I'm the same jerk I always was I've got it figured out If I'm ever gonna change, I have to do it on my own! On my own The others can't help me"_

_"Well, what have we here? What, you've never seen a talking tree before?"_

_"Not lately," Matt said_

_"That's Cherrymon, the lord of the forest," Gabumon explained, running in front of Matt, "Don't move, or I'll digivolve!"_

_"No offense, even I felt like talking, it wouldn't be to a tree" He turned and attempted to walk away, but Cherrymon's vines block his path_

_"What's the idea?" he asked_

_"Young man, didn't anyone ever tell you that you should listen to your elders? So, still stuck in the same rut? Still the same jerk you always were?"_

_"You've been spying on me!" Matt accused him, "Okay, if you're so smart, what am I suppose to do?"_

_"Simple as that, huh? Alright kid, I'll help you out To start out, you're going to have to defeat your rival"_

_"My rival?"_

_"In that lake you will see the face of the one that is preventing you from becoming as strong as you could be"_

_Matt walked over and stared into the lake, despite Gabumon's protests When the face of Matt's rival finally appeared, both human and digimon partner gasped "Tai?"_

_Matt started laughing "You almost had me there, foliage face!"_

_"Do not hide your resent me, embrace it! For in your anger lies your strength, proves yourself by defeating Tai Prove you are is equal, or better"_

_Matt stood facing Tai, anger in both of their eyes They had faced each other this way many times before, but always as friends, never as the enemies they now were Tai looked over his shoulder at Metalgarurumon "Call him off!"_

_"No Tai," Matt said, completely unemotional," I won't"_

_"You've got to stop him Tai!"_

_"I wish I could, but there's only one person that can stop him"_

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Davis and Raidramon emerged from the dirt and rock tunnel into a room of brick and metal. "I guess we're inside now," the teenager observed.

The canine slowly trotted as he examined the room they had entered. It looked like a place to hold and store cargo, as evident by the large boxes that were thrown about. "I wonder what's inside of these," Davis said, as Raidramon walked over to a pile of boxes. The goggle-wearing teenager lifted open one of the lids and stared inside at a pile of computer equipment. "What would Kimeramon need with all this stuff, for?"

"Maybe this place didn't originally belong to Kimeramon?" Raidramon suggested, "Maybe it was the Digimon Emperor's."

"Hey, that does make sense," Davis smiled, "The Emperor did create him. If I was him, I'd want to go back to the place that I could call home. Great job, buddy."

The two partners suddenly heard a loud buzzing noise. "What's noise?" Davis shouted, "Did they find us?"

He was answered when, like the first day he arrived in the Digital World, the ceiling above him blasted apart. Raidramon leapt out of the way as the infamous Frankenstein's Digital Monster dropped into the room.

"It's Kimeramon!" Davis shouted.

Raidramon instantly leapt into action. "Thunder Blast!" His attack was aiming straight for Kimeramon's head, but he used his Kuwagamon arm to bat it way, then used his Skullgreymon arm to pound the armored canine into the ground. He grabbed Raidramon with both of his Devimon arms and executed a horrifying bone breaker attack, before throwing the limp digimon into the wall.

"Raidramon!" Davis shouted. The armored canine fell to the ground and was soon covered by a bright light. The Digimetal of Friendship flew back into Davis's digivice as Raidramon once again returned to Veemon.

"Veemon!" Davis shouted, running over to him.

"No!" the blue digimon tried to warn him, "Stay back!"

It was too late, however. Kimeramon's Fusion Arms attack caused a massive crack in the floor. The teenager and his partner tried to leap out of the way, but they were pulled through the destroyed floor. Kimeramon laughed with glee as the two partners vanished in the darkness.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Back at Gennai's Kari and Tk's minds were still replaying their memories of Tai and Matt.

_Tai stood facing the electrified wall "Oh great"_

_"An electric wall," his partner said, softly, "I can break through it Tai"_

_"Wait, I'll do it Agumon"_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Not exactly, but if I don't do this on my own, right here, right now I might not be able to do it A man must face himself, before he can face his enemies!" _

_I think I understand Tai Go for it!"_

_He held his quivering hand over the electrified fence and started to feel his doubts returning to him He shook them out of his head and took a very deep breath He shoved his hand harmlessly through the wall_

_"Yeah!" he shouted, failing to notice how bright his crest was glowing under his shirt, "It's a fake!"_

_"Yippee!" Agumon cheered_

_"I did it!" Tai thought, "I did it! I overcame my fear, and now I'm saving Sora!" _

Tk's mind was showing him scenes of Matt's life as well.

_"You're a thief!" Matt shouted, "We've worked here long enough to pay for a trip to __Hawaii__!"_

_"__Hawaii__'s not on the schedule!" Digitamamon said, "But if you insist I'll send you to the moon!"_

_Joe moaned in pain as Veggiemon's tentacles squeezed him tight "You were right Matt You always said that we'd have to work together to get out of this mess Now, it looks like it's my turn" He turned to his partner "Go on, Ikkakumon, blast him now"_

_The wooly digimon obeyed and attempted to strike Digitamamon with his horn, but the egg digimon leapt out of the way Veggiemon growled and shook Joe "Tell your friend I'm a very short-tempered Veggiemon!"_

_Matt stared at his friend "Do it Joe!"_

_"No," he moaned, "You've got to attack while I keep him busy"_

_Matt stared at Joe, then looked to the ground "Oh man," he thought, "After I accused and yelled at him, he still risked himself for me Joe, No!" The crest underneath his shirt began to glow_

_"Nightmare Syndrome!"_

_Matt looked up just in time to see Garurumon smash against the wall of the diner_

_"We can't just give up! We've got to beat them But I can't do it alone! I need Tai, Izzy, Sora, Mimi and Joe Together we're strong! And we can beat anything! Garurumon!"_

_"Garurumon digivolve to Weregarurumon!"_

_Matt grinned as he held his digivice "Coming up, one scrambled egg!"_

_"You are your little doggie don't frightened me!" Digitamamon laughed, "Nightmare Syndrome!"_

_The blast of dark energy exploded from inside of his shell, it's target was Weregarurumon, but the Ultimate digimon blocked the attack with his palms_

_"That was just the beginning, you little poacher!" Matt shouted_

_"Needle Claw!" Weregarurumon attacked, sending the Nightmare Syndrome back at Digitamamon The egg creature was hit with so much force, that he was sent flying into the mountains in the distance_

_"They beat Digitamamon!" Veggiemon shouted in disbelief_

_"Veggiemon, you'd better let go of him," Matt growled_

_The plant digimon turned away from the human to look at the glares of Ikkakumon and Weregarurumon "Unless you want to be salad!"_

_Veggeimon gracefully placed Joe back on the ground, then ran for his life_

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Yolei sighed as she looked at the closed eyes of Kari. She had known the brown-haired girl for a long time now, was that because, subconsciously, she knew that she was really Sora Takenouchi, and that Kari was really Tai Kamiya? Could their entire friendship have been built, because they were both giving off and receiving Tai and Sora?

She lightly brushed a strand away from Kari's sleeping face. Kari was Tai, she knew that. She was Sora Takenouchi, and the love of Sora's life was Tai Kamiya. If they were meant to be together, then why was Tai now a girl? Since she had discovered that Kari was Tai, she had been feeling strange emotions every time she looked at the brown-haired girl. She loved Tai, not Kari, but one could not exist without the other, they were one in the same. Yolei was a girl, she could not possibly be in love with another girl, could she?

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Davis slowly opened his eyes when he noticed that his forehead was becoming wet. He then became aware that he had a pounding pain shooting through the back of his head.

"Oh man," he said, slowly sitting up, "What happened?"

He glanced around and saw Veemon lying next to him. He lightly nudged his friend. "Veemon! Veemon!"

He was relived when he saw the blue digimon begin to move. "Davis, are we dead?"

"Nope! At least, I don't think so. I don't think I'd be in this much pain if we were." He glanced around and determined that they were lying on a long bridge connecting a very small room floating in the center of a massive shaft to the outer walls. He walked into the small room with Veemon directly behind him. The air inside this small structure was thick and heavy, and clung to the two partners as they entered. The room was completely bare, except for a large golden object that was resting on a table.

"What is this place?" Davis asked.

"Look at all that energy!" Veemon gasped, "I bet this is the engine room!"

Davis walked over to the gold object. The strange artifact glowed a bright gold and hovered over to the teenager's open hands. The object reduced in size until it was small enough to be held. "Hey, this is a Golden Digimetal!"

He grinned as he turned to Veemon. "Ready to see what this egg does?"

Veemon nodded in agreement. "Yeah!"

"Golden armor energize!"

"Veemon golden armor digivolve to Magnamon!"

"Wow," Davis said in amazement as he stared at the new form of his partner, "This is amazing!"

Magnamon suddenly jumped onto the small platform and pushed Davis onto the other side of the engine room seconds before Kimeramon tore through the platform. The armored digimon stood up and stared at the creature. "Davis, get to safety."

"R..right," he nodded.

Magnamon floated up to stare Kimeramon in the eyes, "The balance of power has shifted."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Gennai ran into the guest room where Ken, Cody and their digimon were sleeping. "You two must wake up!" he shouted, lightly shaking the two sleeping boys, "There's something you have to see!"

Cody yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What is it?"

"It is Daisuke Motomiya," he said, "His digimon is battling Kimeramon."

The now awake digimon and humans jumped off of the bed and charged into the living room. Tk, Kari and their digimon were still lying on the couches on opposite ends of the room, still unconscious. Yolei and Hawkmon were staring intently at the television resting at the end of the wall. "What's going on?" Ken asked.

Yolei shushed him and mentioned to the television set. A pink Tentomon, who was holding a microphone, was hovering in front of a area of desert that was exploding around her. "I repeat, the digimon known as Kimeramon is currently battling a gold digimon. We don't have specifics at this moment, but we believe that the gold digimon is winning."

Behind the reporter, the digidestined could clearly see the evil digimon. His arms were swiping at an figure draped in gold armor. "Who is that?" Wormmon asked.

"Magnamon," Gennai explained, "One of the many evolutionary forms of Veemon."

"Maybe we should get over there to help them," Armadillomon suggested.

"But how?" Cody asked, "We don't have any idea where they are?"

"That reminds me," Gennai said. He opened a drawer on his cabinet and removed a pile of square devices. He gave one to each digidestined. "These are your D-terminals. You can use them to: store your Digi-metals, keep in touch with each other and to track one another."

Ken lifted the lid of his D-terminal and saw a screen that was currently displaying a screen of the Digital World, with a small flashing circle near one of the desert regions. "Is that Davis? But how can we track him if he doesn't have a D-terminal yet?"

"You track the digivice, it just appears on the D-terminal screen," Gennai explained.

Ken nodded. "Alright. Come on Yolei."

The purple-haired girl hesitated, she glanced at the unconscious Kari. "I…I can't…"

Ken nodded. "Alright. Digi-armor energize!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Searchmon, the Shield of Knowledge!"

The large beetle hovered outside of Gennai's house as Ken, Cody and Armadillomon climbed aboard. "If we need your help, we'll contact you, Yolei."

She nodded and waved as the armored insect disappeared into the night sky. She walked back into the living room and saw that Kari and Tk were both starting to shake. She ran over to Kari, while Gennai ran over to Tk. "What's happening to them?" Yolei shouted.

"They're experiencing a painful memory," he said.

"It looks like they're having the same one!" Yolei shouted.

"Maybe they are, maybe they are."

_Kari stood in the center of a dry desert Sand was blowing all around her, ripping at her bare legs, her face was stinging so badly that she had to cover her eyes with her hands She could feel the cuts scratches forming on the back of her hands, but better that then her eyes When the sandstorm finally died down, she removed her hands and scanned the area, trying to determine her location She could not find anything specific; it was a barren desert in all directions_

_"You're here?"_

_She turned around and saw Tk standing behind her "Takashi?" she gasped, "What are you doing in my dream?"_

_"What are _you_ doing in _my_ dream?" he gasped, "How can we both be in the same dream?"_

_"We have something in common," she took a deep breath, "You're really Yamato Ishida, aren't you?"_

_He nodded "Yeah"_

_"And I'm…" She took another deep breath, "And I'm Taichi Kamiya, II'm my own brother Or I am my own sister? This is so confusing!"_

_Tk took a step forward "Maybe I can help"_

_"Really?" she snapped back, "You have no idea what I'm feeling?"_

_"Oh really? Well, I got news for you, before my parents gave birth to Takeru Takashi, they gave birth to Yamato Ishida"_

_Kari stared at him "You mean, you're your own brother too?"_

_He nodded "Yeah, so I do know what you're feeling, well, I didn't change genders, so maybe not _exactly!"

_"Thanks for reminding me," she muttered She stared Tk straight in the eyes "Why are you the Digimon Emperor?"_

_He shook his head "I don't know Something happened to me, something that changed me for the worst, but didn't it happen as Tk, or Matt?" _

_He knelt down and slammed his fists into the sand "Damn it! Something happened to me, and I don't even know what!" Another emotion suddenly overcame him "All those innocent digimon…" He held his face in his hand "Oh God, what have I done?"_

_She looked around the desert, "Are you having trouble waking up, too?"_

_He nodded "Yeah You've kept trying to come to this desert, but your mind has kept sending you to different parts of your past life?"_

_She nodded "Yeah, the best thing that ever happened to meto Tai, and the thing that I regretted the most"_

_"Me too," Tk said, "But why? Why can't our memories take us here? To this place?"_

_Kari took a deep breath "Something happened here, to both of us! Why can't we remember?"_

_Tk shook his head "And why can't I remember what happened to me that made me the Digimon Emperor? If only I could wake up"_

_Kari walked over to him and lightly grasped his hands "Maybe we can wake up, together"_

_Tk nodded "Yeah, together We'll discover the answers, together"_

When the blond haired boy opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Gennai's face staring at him. The old man gave a small sigh of relief, and then smiled. "Welcome back."

Tk sat up on the couch and looked over at the other side of the room, where he saw Yolei hugging Kari.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" the purple-haired girl exclaimed, "Kari, I was so worried."

"Y..Yolei," Kari struggled because Yolei was squeezing her so hard, "I'm…I'm okay. Please, I..I can't breath."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, releasing her grip. A small ball jumped onto the brown haired girl's chest, a ball with two cat ears and a stripped tail.

"Kari!" it exclaimed.

"W..who are you?" she gasped.

"I'm Nyaromon, the In-training form of Salamon! I used up too much energy when I digivolved to Angewomon, so I returned to my In-training form."

A memory flashed across Kari's mind of Koromon, the In-training form of Agumon. "Oh, right."

She looked over to the other side of the room and saw Tk with Tokomon in his arms. She rose to her feet and walked over to greet him. "Well, we made it out."

He nodded. "Yeah, we did."

"Well, where do we go from here? We have to find out about all the mysteries of our pasts."

Tk stared at her for another few minutes, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't." He walked to the door of Gennai's house.

"Tk!" Kari shouted, "Wait!"

He shook his head. "I can't. Goodbye." He exited the house. Kari tried to follow him, but Yolei stopped her.

"Just let him go," she said.

"All right," Kari said. _"You're not fooling me,"_ she thought, _"When we were in that dream together, I could feel your heart You're truly sorry for what you did, I'm not giving up on you"_

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

When Ken and the other digidestined arrived at the battlefield, they were amazed at how Magnamon was fighting. Kimeramon swung one of his Devimon arms to attack the gold-armored digimon, but Magnamon dodged out of the way and shot at the synthetic digimon with his outstretched fist.

"Magna Punch!"

His fist connected with the face of the evil digimon, sending a shock wave rippling across the sky. The force of the attack sent Kimeramon crashing into the desert sands. The gold digimon hovered over the area until Kimeramon shot out of the ground. Magnamon quickly dodged out of the way and the battle resumed.

"Wow!" Cody gasped, "Do you see him fighting?"

"Yeah," Armadillomon said, "He's fighting him all by himself! Can you image how strong he must be?"

"Ken! Searchmon! Down here!"

The brown haired boy looked at the ground and saw Davis standing on the ground, waving both of his hands in the air. Ken grinned. "Searchmon, take us down."

"You've got it," the armored insect replied, hovering down enough for Cody and Ken to pull the goggle-wearing digidestined onto his back.

"What happened?" Cody asked.

Davis quickly retold the events of how he had discovered the gold digi-egg. "…and now he's fighting Kimeramon."

The group atop Searchmon's back turned back to the sky. Mangamon swung his leg into the underside of Kimeramon's chin. "Magna Kick!"

Davis cheered. "Yeah, Magnamon! Kick his butt!"

Kimeramon recovered from Magnamon's attack. He glared at the floating gold digimon and opened his mouth. "Heat Viper!"

"Watch out!" Davis shouted.

Magnamon shot under the geyser of flame. Unfortunately, this is what Kimeramon expect him to do and shot his Hybrid Arms attack to grab the gold digimon.

"Oh no!" Cody gasped.

"He got him!" Armadillomon shouted.

Kimeramon laughed as he raised Magnamon to eye level. "I've got to get out of here!" Magnamon struggled, "But…but I'm losing power…"

"We've got to so something!" Searchmon shouted.

"Like what?" Ken asked, "You were no match for him!"

"Magnamon will win!" Davis shouted.

"How?" Cody asked, "We need a miracle!"

Davis expressed a determined look on his face. "Then that's what we'll get!" The pocket of his fighter pilot jacket suddenly exploded in a gold light.

"What's that?" Cody asked.

Davis reached inside his pocket and pulled out the glowing object. "It's that pendent thing! I totally forget it was in my pocket!"

"That looks like a crest," Ken said, "It's yours!"

"A crest?" Davis asked. He smiled slightly as he placed it around his neck, "My own crest! A Crest of Miracles."

Up above them, Magnamon's armor began to glow in the same bright light as Davis's crest. He grinned as he stared at Kimeramon's face. "This is it. The battle is over!"

He began to charge his body with all of the energy of his body and Davis's crest. "Magna Explosion!"

Kimeramon's hands blew apart from the force of the detonation. The rest of the beast's body could not move out of the way. Even if he had tried, he would not have escaped from the reminder of the explosion. It ripped through his body, tearing it into his basic data, which was flung across the night sky.

"We won!" Davis shouted.

The light from Magnamon's de-digivolution slowly faded as a blue digimon fell from the sky and into Davis's arms. "Veemon, is that you?"

"Yes, well, my name's Demiveemon now, the In-training form of Veemon!"

"That makes sense, I guess," he smiled, "You did it! You beat him!"

"Great," Ken said, "Let's get back to Gennai's house and give everyone the good news!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Kimeramon's rampage across the Digital World had destroyed rivers, farmland, villages and forests. It would take years before the forest had returned to the beautiful sea of green it once was, and even in the Digital World, time was a factor.

A figure with black hair walked through one of the forests that had been destroyed by Kimeramon. He gazed around at the destruction, but he was only concerned with a large stone that was lying on the ground. He reached down and lifted it up with a massive grin on his face.

"Excellent. The first Destiny Stone has been destroyed, and with this small piece, the first of the seals will fall," his grin widened, "And when the other seals fail.." He laughed maniacally as he left the forest. As he did, a fierce wind blew through the forest, momentarily removing the hood around his shoulders, revealing a black bar code on the back of his neck.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Elecmon smiled as he watched as a trail of particles fall onto Primary Village. He quickly trotted over to where the funnel of particles had landed. All of the small data formed into a digi-egg.

"Another baby," Elecmon smiled, "I wonder what digimon this will become. It should hatch in a few days, I'd better prepare some more baby food." He ran back into his small hut.

Inside of the digi-egg, the newborn digimon was already developing. A pair of sinister, evil eyes appeared in the darkness.

_Preview:_

_Kari and Ken are having difficulty adjusting to the knowledge of their past lives. While comming to terms to his past crimes, Tk is approached by a mysterious stranger. A new dark force invades the Digital World, and it has set its sights on the Destiny Stones._

_Next: "Dark SEED: Master of Shadows." The hardest memories to deal with are ones of guilt._

Author's notes: Well, this chapter turned out to be a lot longer then I originally planed. All of those memory scenes really ran away from me.

I hope you enjoyed the nostalgic trips down memory lanes in Kari and Tk's memories. It took forever, and I mean _forever_ to get the dialogue just right.

Hey guys, I need to ask you something important. I haven't truly decided yet on whether to make this a Kari and Yolei angst fic, or a full blown Kari/Yolei. If I decide on the later, it would be the first Yaoi/Yuri fic I ever wrote. So all you readers, let me know what you think!


	7. Dark SEED: Masters of Shadows

This is Cody. Tk and Kari were trapped within the memories of their past selves: Tai and Matt. They experienced the times that they most regretted and the times they were most proud of, before reaching a place in their memories that they shared, an event in the desert that neither of them could remember, but somehow made Tk the Digimon Emperor. Davis and Veemon, meanwhile, found the Emperor's old base, where Kimeramon was hiding. They found a Gold Digi-egg, which Veemon used to armor digivolve to Magnamon! This super powered digimon defeated Kimeramon.

Kari offered Tk to join us, but he refused. Meanwhile, a shard of the Destiny Stone that Kimeramon destroyed was found by a member of Dark SEED. What part do they play in all of this?

Dark SEED: Masters of Shadows

The stars in the sky shown beautifully and brightly against the blackness of the night, well, the clarification was actually dusk, but the setting sun did not interfere with the gazing of the stars. Aries the Ram cast its light on the city below, illuminating city-dwellers and travelers alike. Four of these wanders had arrived in the city.

A girl with long, curl blond hair stopped her trek down the long sidewalk to stare at the lights of the city and grinned. At her side, a plant creature hidden underneath a large hat and oversized dress looked up at her. "What are you so happy about, Catherine?"

"We're here, Floramon," she said, breathing deeply, "Ziz place looks so beautiful!"

The plant creature looked at her strangely. "Even more then Paris?"

The blond girl thought for a few minutes, then shook her head. "No. Not'ing will ever be az beautiful as home."

Floramon nodded. "I guess you're right. I do miss my home."

Catherine knelt down to hug her partner. "Do not fear, we will return to ze Digital World."

She smiled. "I'm sure I'll see my home again."

Catherine stood and stared out at the city. "Come, we have to find ze ozers."

The last digidestined and digimon partner that were entering the city had arrived by sea, a large ocean liner, to be precise. They were not passengers, however, but two very sneaky and skilled stowaways.

When the large ship had successfully docked, the two unwanted passengers jumped off of the deck and dove into the waters. They swam underneath of the rolling waves and emerged by climbing up the side of a wooden pier a few feet away.

The human took a few deep breaths before sitting down to rest. "Great job, Crabmon. I don't think they ever thought ta even look fer us."

The crustacean digimon nodded. "Well, Derek, if we weren't such great swimmers, I bet it would have been a problem."

Derek smiled and rubbed his partner's head. He took another few breaths before standing up. "So, this is Tokyo, eh? Well, we'd better start our search fer the other Digidestined."

Tk sat in his room, staring at the blue crest that was dangling from his finger. He stared at it long and hard. It had belonged to Yamato Ishida, and he was Matt in the previous life. Yet, he was Takeru Takashi now, and the crest that was given to him was the Crest of Abandonment. Did that mean that he was destined to have that corrupted crest? He could not even remember how he received that crest, but was it his because of the loneliness he felt in his heart?

Tokomon jumped beside him on the bed. "What'cha looking at, Tk? That Crest?"

Tk nodded. "Friendship."

"That sounds like a great crest! What are you so sad about?"

"Why is it mine? I've been anything but a friend."

"I wouldn't be so worried about it," he said, snuggling beside his partner, "You wouldn't have gotten it if you didn't deserve it."

"Tokomon, do you remember when we first met?"

"Kinda."

"What was I like? I mean, was I…" he took a deep breath, "Mean, like the Digimon Emperor?"

Tokomon thought for a few minutes, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't remember. I'm wondering why I digivolved into Tsukaimon? I can't explain why, but I just get the feeling that I _wasn't_ supposed to be that."

Tk frowned. "Maybe it was because I corrupted your digivolution."

Tokomon shook his head. "Whatever I did, I did of my own free will." He smiled slightly, "I guess both of us want to get over our pasts."

Tk sighed as he placed the medallion on the small night stand next to his digivice. He turned off his light and placed his hand on his digimon partner. "Good night, old friend."

He was not sure how long he was asleep, but he soon found himself drawn back to reality. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a rainbow of light and colors dancing across his ceiling. He turned towards his computer and gasped. A figure wearing a grayish white robe was staring at the glowing monitor.

"What are you doing!"

The figure turned around and removed the hood. Tk could see the face of a younger teenage girl with reddish blond hair in long braids. The girl knelt down on one knee and bowed. "My Emperor."

"Emperor?" Tk gasped, "W..who are you?"

The girl rose to her feet and frowned. "Yes, I was afraid that you wouldn't remember me."

"Remember you?" Tk asked, in complete awe, "No, I don't."

"Very well," the girl nodded, "My name is Tatum."

"Tatum?" he gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to tell you this, do not let the past rule your future. You may have once been the Digimon Emperor, but that is over. The other Digidestined will need your help."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Beside him, Tokomon slowly began to awake. "Tk?"

The blond teenager turned to him and then turned back, but the mysterious Tatum was gone.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Gennai frowned as he stared at a holographic projector, situated in the center of his office, which was displaying a three dimensional image of the Digital World. He frowned as he used his wireless mouse to move a magnifying glass cursor over a small section on the Eastern Continent. He doubled clicked and the image magnified to display decimated tree trunks littering a field of burnt earth.

He sighed. "The Destiny Stone of Forest has been destroyed."

Another voice behind him sighed. "Yes, I know."

Gennai lightly shook his head. "Still so good at keeping information to yourself, huh Ryo?"

The younger man shook his head. "And you still the same master of the obvious."

Gennai chuckled slightly and used his mouse to return to the larger image of the digital planet, five blinking lines scattered around the globe. "Only five more stones left and then the beast will be freed!"

Ryo frowned. "You should have thought of a better shield."

Gennai glared at him. "Don't try to pin this all on me. You were there too remember? In fact, I think it was your idea to trust our enemies!" He mentioned to himself, "And look what it did to me!"

Ryo frowned. "I have regretted that decision every day since then, but we can't change the past, only continue to the future." He crossed his arms, "If the destruction of the Destiny Stones continues, then we can kiss the Digital World goodbye."

Gennai nodded. "Yes. Are you ready to teach the Digidestined the next step in evolution?"

"Yes. Kari will be the first one."

Gennai turned to look at his fellow Guardian. "Are you sure she should be the first one? She is the reconfigured Taichi Kamiya."

"I'm aware of that."

"Well, I hope your memory isn't failing you then! Remember what kind of power Taichi Kamiya had? Remember what happened to him?"

Ryo nodded. "Yes, I do. He could have had control over the most powerful element, but darkness over took him instead. But, I believe I might be able to draw that hidden power out of the Crest of Courage."

"Are you sure?" Gennai cautioned.

Ryo nodded. "Taichi Kamiya was the most capable of handling that type of power, but his arrogance led him to those downfalls. However, _Hikari_ Kamiya may have the same spirit, but her personality is slightly different. As a new person, Taichi might gain new insight and have a better grasp at handling that power for the _first_ time, not the third."

Gennai nodded. "Good luck, I just hope this doesn't blow up in our faces."

"You and me both.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mrs. Ichijoji lightly knocked on her son's door. "Ken? Ken!"

"What is it, Mom?"

"It's time for dinner," she said.

"I'll be a few minutes."

Mrs. Ichijoji frowned as she opened the door. "Ken, what are you doing that…? Ken!" She shrieked. Her son was sitting in the center of his floor, surrounded by electronic equipment that she assumed came from the gapping hole in the side of his computer.

He looked up at his mother. "What's wrong, Mom?"

"K..Ken!" she gasped, "You took your computer apart!"

He looked at the mess of electronics around him. "Yes, well, I wanted to upgrade it."

"But, Ken, you've never done anything like this before. Are you sure you're doing it correctly?"

"Affirmative," he nodded, "I consulted the instruction manual as to the correct procedure."

His mother blinked at her son's words. "Um, okay. Just hurry up before your dinner gets cold."

"Okay, Mom."

She exited the room and closed the door. She shook her head and continued down the hall. Inside of Ken's room, Wormmon stared at him strangely. "Um Ken?"

"Yes Wommon?"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?" he asked.

"You're talking," he struggled, trying to think of a way so as not to insult him, "Well, you're speaking more…scientifically, I guess."

"Really?"

The green digimon nodded. "And you were good with computers, but never good enough to take one apart."

Ken nodded and stared at the electronic components in front of him. "Hmm, you're right. I guess some of my memories as Izzy must be starting to return. I wonder if the others are starting to experience the same. Maybe I should start a study to determine the…the…"

"Result?" Wormmon suggested.

"Yeah," Ken said, "That's what I meant to say." He frowned, "I guess I'm going back and forth between personalities, huh?" He looked down at the mess in front of him, "And memories too. I can't remember how to put this back together."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Kari stared at herself in the mirror, lightly tracing the outline of her face with her finger. Her hands moved up to her hair, lightly rubbing against her pink hair clips and the two strands of hair that hung alongside her face. Her hands moved down to her breasts, which she stared at for a few minutes before staring at herself in the mirror once more.

She stared down at her vanity table, covered with various feminine items. Her hands lightly touched her hairbrush and shampoo bottles, before moving over to her perfume and jewelry. When she touched these last items a strange feeling shot through her body. She placed the necklace against her chest, to see how it would look on her, but she gasped at her reflection. Instead of the familiar, short brown-haired girl she was used to seeing, she saw a bushy brown haired young man.

She dropped the necklace and fiercely shook her head. When she looked back at the mirror, it was her normal reflection. She slightly shook her head again before walking over to her closet and opened the door. She stared at the variety of dresses and other feminine clothing. She stared at each article of clothing before slamming the door. This noise caused her digimon partner to awaken from her sleep.

Nyaromon yawned. "Kari, what's wrong?"

"Oh, Nyaromon, did I wake you up? I'm sorry."

The small cat digimon yawned again. "What were you doing, Kari?"

The brown haired girl sighed as she sat down on the bed. "Nyaromon, I..I'm having trouble adjusting. I was Tai, a guy, in another life, but now I'm a girl."

"So?"

"I'm having trouble adjusting to that. I mean, who am I? All of these memories of being a guy are cramming into my head. What do I do if I have trouble being a girl? Being…_me?_"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Nyaromon said, "I mean, digimon are always reconfigured. I was probably a different digimon before, but I really don't remember."

Kari stared at her. "You mean, there's a chance you could have been Agumon?"

She thought for a long time before answering, "Maybe. That would explain why we're partners."

Kari smiled slightly as she rubbed the top of her partner's head. "Well, what should I do?"

Nyaromon shrugged as best she could. "I don't know."

"I'm bored," she sighed. The brown haired girl stood up and walked over to her computer. "Maybe I'll surf the net." When she logged onto her web browser she noticed her Inbox. "Email, from Ryo?" She opened the message.

_Kari, we need to talk Meet me in the park at __9:00_

"Why would Ryo need to talk to me?" She turned around in her chair. "Hey, Nyaromon, we've got to go."

The two girls ran to the park as fast as they could. "Where's Ryo?"

Nyaromon bounced over to a darkened section of trees. "Over here."

Kari ran after her partner and entered an area of the park that was almost completely surrounded by trees. Once she and Nyaromon had entered, a group of trees appeared at the entrance, cutting them off from the rest of the park. The brown haired girl found Ryo, still covered by his cloak, leaning against one of the trees. "Ryo!"

The young man smiled. "Welcome, Kari."

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Ryo pushed himself away from the tree and walked over to her. "I will be blunt. The Destiny Stones are in danger of being destroyed."

Kari raised her eyebrows in shock. "You mean, Tk's still trying?"

Ryo shook his head. "No, not the Digimon emperor, a group of supreme darkness. If the

Destiny Stones are destroyed then the Digital World will be in extreme danger. You can't let that happen. The time has come for you to achieve your next level of digivolution."

Nyaromon grinned as she bounced up and down. "You mean, a mega?"

Ryo grinned. "Not quite."

Nyaromon and Kari looked at one another. "What do you mean then?"

Ryo chuckled. "There exists in the Digital World, a group of powerful items, Holy Weapons."

"Holy Weapons?" Kari asked.

"That's right," he nodded, "The enemies you will now be facing are far more powerful then what you have experienced. You will need to master a new technique in order to combat them."

"What technique?" Gatomon asked.

"You will discover that after you retrieve your Holy Weapon."

"Where is it?" Kari asked.

Ryo began to walk away. "I will send you a map through e-mail."

Nyaromon frowned. "Then couldn't we have just done this back home?"

"He's gone," Kari said, "A Holy Weapon, huh? I wonder what it does."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Mrs. Kamiya smiled to herself as she finished pouring the pitcher of soda into the last cup. She placed this plastic tumbler onto the tray and grabbed a hold of the two handles on the side. She lifted the tray very carefully and slowly walked out of the kitchen area. She walked over to the door to her daughter's room. "Kari?" she called.

"What is it, Mom?" came the muffled reply through the wooden door.

"I thought you guys might be hungry, so I made you some snacks."

Kari opened the door and allowed her mother to enter. The older woman smiled at the other teenagers seated on the floor as she placed the tray in the center.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kamiya!"

Kari's mother smiled again and began to exit the room. As she did, she noticed the group of strange stuffed animals lying on Kari's bed. She was certain that she had never seen those dolls in her daughter's room before, but just shrugged and left.

Kari closed the door and locked it tight. She gave a small sigh. "That was close." She turned around and saw that the other digidestined and their digimon were already munching on the snacks. She walked over and sat down beside Nyaromon. She grabbed a cookie and began eating. She turned to Ken. "Go ahead."

Ken nodded and was about to continue when he heard a loud beeping noise. He looked up and saw that Davis was currently engaging himself in a hand held video game. "Davis?"

"I'm listening."

Ken reached over and snatched the video game away and placed it in his pocket. He sighed and held up a piece of paper with a map printed on it. "This was sent to me by Gennai. It displays the location of a Destiny Stone, but also this 'Holy Weapon' that Ryo informed Kari to acquire." He continued to stare at the map, "Hmm, according to this, Gennai wants us to be wary of a certain type of metal that comprises that mountain."

The other Digidestined stared at him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Um, do you know you're talking weird?" Yolei asked.

Ken sighed. "Yes, I know. It appears that my memories and personalities of Izzy have not yet assimilated into my current persona."

"What?" everyone asked.

Cody shook his head. "When do we leave?"

"I'm ready when ever you are," Davis said, standing up.

"Hold on," Kari said, "I know it's Saturday, so if we're gone all day, Mom probably won't think anything's wrong, but we've got to make it look like we left."

"How?" Veemon asked.

"We've got to take our shoes too."

"Why?" Davis asked, "You would think that your parents would be a little more open minded."

"I didn't tell them anything!" she almost shouted, "Don't you think my Mom and Dad would be a little freaked out if they found out their son was reborn as their daughter? Besides, I know they would be worried that I would die again or something like that."

"So are we leaving now or not?" Armadillomon asked.

Kari stood up and walked over to the door. She opened it a crack and looked outside. Her mother was not there. She quietly walked over to the front door of the apartment and quickly picked up all of the shoes. She tiptoed back into her room and tossed everyone their shoes before returning to the front door.

"Mom!" she shouted, "We're going out for a while!"

"Okay!" her mother's voice shouted from her room, "Be back by dinner!"

Kari opened and closed the front door, then quietly walked back into her room and silently closed the door. She placed a finger to her lips so the others knew to be quiet. Kari quietly opened the Digital Gate and pulled the Digidestined and their Digimon into the Digital World.

They had appeared on a mountain, with rocks and sharp boulders jabbing out of the ground. Davis placed a hand over his eyes to block them from the sun and glanced around their surroundings. He looked at his feet and shivered slightly at how close to the edge he was standing. He glanced over that ledge and strained to see the base of the chasm, but the ravine appeared bottomless.

He tugged at his collar. "Man, got to be careful that we don't fall down _there!"_

Kari looked around at the rock-filled-mountain. "Alright, so where's the Destiny Stone?"

Ken removed the map from his pocket and examined their surroundings. Wormmon was perched on his shoulder and stared at the map. "Hmm, I don't see anything."

Ken glanced at the map and then at the area around them. "Across that bride, then walk down around the mountain on the path."

The Digidestined and their digimon followed Ken's instructions and journeyed across the bridge. The path descended as it followed the circle of the mountain into a massive cul-de-sac carved into the side of the mountain range. Seated within the center of this square carving was a large, one floor, square building, with one set of double doors in the center of the wall facing the entrance to the cul-de-sac. On the top of this building was a large diamond shaped stone made of a material that glistened in the sunlight.

"That's gota be the Destiny Stone," Veemon said.

Ken looked at the double doors. "The Holy Weapon must be inside."

Kari turned to her partner. "Are you ready?"

Nyaromon nodded and hopped into Kari's arms. "Let's go!"

Kari smiled and turned to the others. "Why don't you guys wait here? It won't take us too long."

"Okay," Ken said, "Just be careful."

Kari nodded and opened the doors to reveal a dark staircase. She took a deep breath and descended into the ground. Yolei watched the brown haired girl until she was out of sight. "Good luck."

Hawkmon turned to his partner. "Are you feeling okay, Yolei?"

She hesitated, then smiled at him. "Of course, I never felt better! Why do you ask?"

The bird digimon was going to answer when he heard a whirling noise in the air. "Do you hear that?"

The digidestined and their digimon were suddenly thrown in every direction as a large projectile pierced the ground in a mighty explosion. Davis looked up from where he had landed. "Where did that come from!"

Cody pointed into the sky. "Up there!"

The group watched in horror as the mountain ridge became covered with a sea of green and white. Floating in the sky was metal and lighter green. "Oh no!" Yolei gasped, "Numemons! And Bakemons!"

"But what are they doing here?" Cody asked.

Armadillomon looked over his shoulder at the stone building. "I guess they're after that Destiny Stone."

"No!" Davis shouted, "We've got to stop them!" He grabbed his digivice and looked to the others. "Ready?"

The other digidestined grabbed their digivices in turn. "Digi-armor energize!"

The digimon waited for the familiar rush of energy associated with merging with the digi-armors, but found none. Each one turned to their partners and stared at them. "Um, Davis…" Veemon asked, "What's going on?"

The goggle-wearing teenager shook his head. "I..I have no idea!" He turned to the black-haired boy. "Ken?"

"I have no idea!" he gasped, "M..Maybe opening the Digital Gate drained the devices? No, that wouldn't be the reason. Maybe…" He glanced around at the stone that comprised the cul-de-sac. "Of course! That metal that was described on the map! It's affecting the armor digivolution!" He dropped to his knees, "I can't believe it! I'm a failure, the real Izzy would have known about that. Izzy Izumi would have figured that out. I'm just a failure!"

Davis attempted to run over to his friend's side, but the army of digimon thundering closer. "Ken!" he shouted, "Listen, you made a mistake, you've got to get over it! Would Izzy Izumi have given up?"

Ken took a deep breath. "You're correct! The real Izzy would have figured out a way to overcome this obstacle, but how?" He stared at his digivice, which was still glowing. "If we can't armor evolve, how come the device is still ready? Unless it _wants_ to evolve our digimon, but it can't armor evolve?" His eyes lit up. "Maybe it's because the device has too much power!" He looked up at the Destiny Stone. "That stone must be over powering our digivices! They can't armor evolve, because the device is giving off too much power! That's it!" He held his small digital device up to the Destiny Stone. "Wormmon, digivolve normally!"

The green digimon nodded. "I'm ready!'

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

Ken smiled to himself. "Excellent, you digivolved."

The Champion digimon stared at the army of green and white. He held out his forearm and a beam of light emerged from the gauntlets on his arms. "Spiking Strike!" He shot at the army and used his glowing sword to bat away the Numemon and Bakemon, shooting through the invading digimon like an arrow.

Veemon clenched his fists and turned to the others. "Come on, he can't do it by himself! Let's help him out."

Armadillomon and Hawkmon nodded. "Right!"

The three digimon leapt into battle, using their combined strength to aid the digivolved Wormmon. However, their strength was not enough, and they soon found themselves failing.

Veemon stared at a hovering Bakemon and dove towards him. "V-Head butt!" He was successful in driving back the ghost digimon, but the after shock sent him careening backwards to land at Davis's feet.

"Veemon!"

"Don't worry Davis," he said, leaping back onto his feet, "I'm not done yet." He stood up and was ready to charge back into battle.

"Wait!" Ken shouted, finally making it over to his friend through the chaos of the battlefield. "That Destiny Stone is powering up our digivices! They can't armor digivolve, because the device has much more power then is needed!"

Davis stared at his still glowing digivice. "I get it! They can digivolve regularly."

"Right."

Davis grinned and pointed his device at Veemon. "Do it!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

Davis and Ken gave each other a high five. "All right!" The two teenagers stopped their cheering when they heard a shrill, female voice, echo thought the cul-de-sac.

"So, the Digidestined digimon _can_ achieve a level of regular digivolution. I'll have to update our records."

The four humans of the Digidestined turned their attention to the mountain ridge and saw a figure staring down at them. She was defiantly a human, wearing a light red Chinese dress, black boots and a dark robe which flowed behind her from the wind of the battlefield. Around her neck hung a pendant which reflected the light of the sun. At her side stood a large candle with arms and legs.

"Who are you?" Yolei asked.

The girl smirked. "My name is Yuehon, faithful servant to the Lord of Dark SEED! And this is my partner digimon, Candlemon."

"Dark SEED?" Cody asked, "That strange group that kidnapped Kari?"

"And is that a Crest around your neck?" Ken asked.

"That's right," the Chinese girl nodded, "My Crest of Deception. Now, I will give you only one chance to get out of our way and allow us to destroy that Destiny Stone!"

"Not a chance!" Exveemon shouted.

"Fine," Yuehon snapped. She held out her digivice towards her partner. "Make them leave."

"As you wish," her partner replied, leaping off of the mountain ledge, "Candlemon digivolve to Apemon!"

The giant primate grabbed a large bone that was hanging on his back and attempted to attack Exveemon with it, but Stingmon jumped in front and used his Spiking Strike saber to block the attack.

"I'll take care of this guy," the insect digimon said, "You keep that Destiny Stone safe."

The dragon digimon nodded. "Right." He flew to position himself in front of the large stone, but was cut off when a large group of Bakemon appeared in front of him.

"This isn't going to be pretty," he sighed. He braced himself for the attack, but watched in amazement as each white ghost was thrown aside. "What the?"

He turned to look at the Destiny Stone and gasped when he saw a bird digimon and a fish digimon standing on the stone roof of the building.

"Exveemon!" Davis shouted, "Who's that?"

"Zat iz my digimon partner!"

The google-wearing teenager spun around and found himself staring at the face of a blond teenager girl. Behind her stood a light brown curly haired young man. "W..w..who..?"

"My name iz Catherine and my digimon partner iz Kiwimon."

"And I'm Derek. That's my partner, Coelemon. We're here ta help ya' mate."

Yuehon laughed. "More of you weaklings? Do you think with the help of a blond ditz and an improper talking bush head you're going to stop Dark SEED?"

"What!" Catherine shouted, "How dare you! You zink you know everyt'ing? Well, you're wrong! I am ze reborn spirit of Mimi Tachikawa!"

"Yeah!" Derek protested, "And I'm Joe Kido!"

"Wow," Davis said, "Every digidestined is here. But wait, how did you guys know that? And how did you meet each other?"

Derek frowned. "I don't think this is the time."

"Right, sorry."

Yuehon laughed again. "You guys are even more screwed up then I thought! Destroying you will be no problem at all!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Inside of the stone building, Kari and Nyaromon had arrived at the base of the staircase and began to walk through a darkened hallway. She used her flashlight to illuminate the shadows as they traveled through the tunnel. Eventually they reached a square chamber with a small alter in the center. "That must be it," Nyaromon said.

Kari nodded and walked over to the raised platform; a strange object rested on it. Kari took a deep breath and lifted the artifact in her hand. "What is it?" the In-training digimon asked.

Kari shook her head. "I don't know. It looks like two lances attached together." She held it tightly and the room was suddenly illuminated as the weapon glowed brightly. Nyaromon bounced up and down. "Nyaromon digivolve to Salamon!"

"You digivolved!" Kari gasped.

"Yeah," Salamon said, "It must have been the power from that weapon."

Kari nodded. "I guess that means it works. Let's get out of here."

Salamon nodded in agreement and followed her partner back through the tunnel, the light of the Holy Lance lighting their way. As they approached the base of the staircase, they noticed the loud sounds of battle from above. They stole a moment to glance at each other, but only a moment, because they charged up the stairs to aid their friends. When they arrived on the battlefield, they both gave gasps of surprise and horror.

"Kari!" Yolei shouted, quickly ducking underneath a large stone that had been kicked up during one of the many explosions.

"Yolei!" Kari shouted, instinctually ducking as another explosion blasted around them, "What's going on?"

"That weird group…Dark SEED…"

"Dark SEED?" she gasped, "What are they doing here?"

"Trying to destroy that Destiny Stone!"

Kari glanced up at the large stone resting on top of the square building, then turned back to the battlefield. "All right Salamon, digi-armor…"

"That won't work," Hawkmon sighed, "Ken said that the Destiny Stone was powering up your digivices, so much that we couldn't armor digivolve."

"What?" Salamon gasped.

"Wormmon and Veemon were able to digivolve regularly. Though Armadillomon and I cannot for some reason."

"Kari!" Ken shouted, managing to run over to her, followed by Catherine and Derek. "We need your help!"

"What?" she shouted, "And who are those two?"

"This is Catherine and Derek. They are the reborn Mimi Tachikawa and Joe Kido."

"What?" Kari gasped, "You mean, we're all here?"

"Now really isn't the time," Ken said. The black-haired teenager pointed to the Chinese girl standing on the ridge. "Her name is Yuehon! She's in charge of this army, and her partner, Apemon is fighting with Stingmon. He can't hold out without help!

Kari nodded and grabbed her digivice. "Okay, Salamon, digivolve!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

The white feline used her claws to crawl to the top of the stone building and then waited until Apemon and Stingmon were directly below her. She jumped onto the large primate's back and gripped tightly around his neck.

"Gatomon!" Stingmon shouted in surprise.

"Hang on," she said, digging her claws into Apemon's shoulders, "I'm here to help you."

"Get off you pest!" Apemon shouted, trying to grab her, but Gatomon's agility was too much for the primate to handle. Up on the mountain ridge, Yuehon frowned in anger and mentioned to two of the Bakemon to lower her to the ground.

"So," she snarled, "You must be Kari Kamiya. I can't say I'm all that impressed."

Kari frowned. "How rude of you."

The Chinese girl chuckled as she landed on the ground. "Well, I've got to admit that you do surprise me. Of all the stories that I heard of the great Taichi Kamiya, I never imagined him being so polite."

Kari started to blush. "Stop that!"

Yuehon stared at Gatomon, Stingmon, and Kiwimon, who were all attempting to battle her partner digimon. Exveemon, Colemon, Hawkmon and Armadillomon were currently decimating her army. She did not like to admit it, but unless she gained more strength, she might lose this fight. She grabbed her digivice.

"What are you doing now?" Davis demanded.

"Simple. With the power of my digivice and my Crest of Deception, I'm going to make my partner digivolve again."

"Crest of Deception?" Ken asked.

"One of the corrupted crests?" Kari asked.

"Deception?" Catherine asked, "Zat waz once ze Crest of Zinzerity, wasn't it?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Yuehon replied.

"Zat was Mimi's crest!" Catherine exclaimed, "Zat was my Crest! What have you done wit' it?"

"Quiet!" Yuehon shouted, the Crest of Deception glowing brightly, "Apemon, digivolve!"

"Apemon digivolve to Mammothmon!"

Gatomon had no choice but to release her grip around Apemon's neck as it suddenly grew to monstrous size. She found herself standing on the head of a giant, hairy elephant. Mammothmon's trunk whipped up and wrapped itself around the body of the small feline. He easily slammed her into the ground.

"Gatomon!" Kari shouted.

"We've got to get her out of there!" Exveemon shouted, propelling himself to Mammothmon's trunk. Kiwimon fired a stream of bird shaped darts from her mouth and into the giant elephant's eyes to distract him as Exveemon and Stingmon managed to break Gatomon out of his grip. They grabbed the feline and flew back to the digidestined.

The Chinese girl made a motion with her hands. "Mammothmon, destroy that Destiny Stone!"

The two trunks of the woolly elephant began to glow. "Tusk Crusher." Two large missiles propelled themselves towards the large stone.

"We've got to stop them!" Exveemon shouted.

"I'm right behind you!" Stingmon replied, falling into line behind him. Both Champion level digimon were able to catch the projectiles, but the force of the impact regressed them back to their Rookie levels.

Davis and Ken looked on in complete shock. "Oh no!"

"A really simple matter," Yuehon grinned, "Now, would anyone else like to try to stop us?"

Kari twirled to face Gatomon. "You're the only one that can reach the Ultimate level."

Gatomon nodded and pointed her claws out. "I'm ready!"

"Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

The holy angel hovered before the giant elephant, a determined look present on her face. "You are not going to get passed me."

Neither Mammothmon nor her human partner appeared to be the least impressed. Yuehon turned to Kari. "You'd better call off your digimon, now!"

The brown-haired girl continued to stare at the Chinese girl. "You said something before that I wasn't like Tai Kamiya, well, maybe this will sound more like him, I don't give up! Especially, when I'm winning!"

Angewomon nodded in agreement. She placed her hands together and executed her secondary attack. "Heaven's Charm!"

The woolly elephant slid back from the impact, but overall remained unharmed. "That was pretty good," he grinned, "Let's see how well you handle this! Freezing Breath!"

"Angewomon, look out!" Kari shouted.

The angel shot into the sky to avoid to ice attack, but her left foot became encased in a sheath of ice. She swung her remaining foot into the elephant's face to give her time to retreat to a safer distance.

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, "Are you okay?"

"I'm..I'm fine…" she strained to keep herself afloat.

Yuehon stared at Kari. "Call her off before she's severely injured."

Kari stared back at her. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"I am here because I serve the master of Dark SEED, the mighty Lord…"

"That is enough, Yuehon!" a male voice shouted, "I can introduce myself!"

The eyes of the Digidestined turned to the small entrance to the cul-de-sac and saw another figure standing in the mountain pass. This one was male, wearing a pair of black pants and a blue sweatshirt, hidden underneath the same type of black cloak as Yuehon's, and like his subordinate, he had a pendant around his neck.

"Who are you?" Davis demanded.

"And is that a crest?" Derek asked.

The figure reached up and removed the hood of the cloak to reveal the face of a black-haired teenager. "I am the Lord of Dark SEED, Hiroshi! And this is my Crest of Spirit!"

"Hiroshi?" Yolei asked.

"How can you be in charge of Dark SEED?" Kari gasped, "You look like you're as old as we are!"

Hiroshi grinned. "Maybe I am."

"How can that be?" Kari asked in shock, "What about your parents?"

"My parents are dead, thank you!" he snapped, "And so are Yuehon's."

Kari stared at the Chinese girl then at the Dark SEED lord. "How horrible."

"Enough talking!" Hiroshi shouted, "I'm going to destroy that Destiny Stone, so I suggest you get out of my way."

"And how are you going to do that?" Davis shouted.

Hiroshi grinned. "With _my_ digimon partner!" The ground suddenly began to shake as a large red serpent emerged from the rocks beside the Dark SEED lord.

"Megseadramon?" the digidestined gasped.

Hiroshi's partner laughed. "Correct! Now, face my power, Thunder Javelin!"

A massive bolt of lightning shot out of Megaseadramon's horn and struck the angel woman, sending her flying backwards into the stone wall of the cul-de-sac. Angewomon glowed brightly and shrunk into her In-training form.

"Nyaromon!" Kari cried, watching her partner fall to the ground.

"Ha!" Hiroshi laughed, "Your digimon regresses to her In-training form after reaching an Ultimate level? You have a Holy Weapon! You're pathetic!"

"So?" Yolei shouted.

"Yeah," Cody joined in, "Don't try to make her feel bad!"

"I'm just telling her the truth," he explained, reaching inside of his robe to pull out a blue object and pointed it at the Digidestined, "Allow me to show you the true power of a Holy Weapon!"

"He's has one too?" Cody gasped.

"That's right!" Yuehon shouted, "The Holy Trident!"

"That's enough," Hiroshi said, "Megaseadramon, prepare to merge!"

The large serpent glowed a blue light, in synch with the glow from the Holy Trident, and shrunk to a smaller form. Megaseadramon merged with Hiroshi's body, which began to glow in the same blue light. When this aqua glow faded, a new, merged figure stood with a smirk on his face. This figured had the appearance of Hiroshi, but with red scales and a long tail twitching behind him. A sharp horn jutted out of the top of his forehead and he held the Holy Trident firmly in his right hand.

"Now," he said, in a merger of Hiroshi and Megaseadramon's voice, "Witness my full power! Say goodbye to the Destiny Stone of Earth! Thunder Javelin!" A massive electrical bolt, far stronger then Megaseadramon's normal attack exploded from the Holy Trident and struck the Destiny Stone, causing it to shatter into dust. A lone piece, the size of a normal basketball, was flung from the center and caught by Mammothmon's trunk.

The Digidestined were in shock as they watched the destruction of the Destiny Stone. Kari stared at the lance in her hands. "That's what a Holy Weapon does?"

Hiroshi/Megaseadramon glowed once more and separated into Hiroshi and a big, blue bird. "Come on, Penmon, let's get out of here."

His partner nodded and climbed onto Mammothmon's back, along with the Dark SEED ruler and Yuehon. He laughed as the woolly elephant thundered out of the cul-de-sac.

_Preview:_

_Kari was once Tai Kamiya, and Yolei was once Sora Takenouchi. Tai and Sora were in love, a love as old as they were young. Yet, in this life, Kari and Yolei have conflicting feelings for each other. Will they be able to overcome?_

_Next: "Dark SEED: Warrior of the Sky." The feelings of the heart can be as painful as they are beautiful._

Author's note: Okay, in case you're wondering, Tatum was the girl riding an Airdramon in America. She was with the Shogongekomon and convinced him to go to New York. Yuehon was the Chinese girl with the Apemon as a partner and Hiroshi was the Dark Seed kid that wanted to be a comic book artist. Why use these ones? Because I wanted to use characters that no one really uses. Besides, since they weren't given that much air time, I can kinda give them whatever personality I wanted.

There will be some Yolei/Kari in the next chapter, so if you want to give me your preference, Kari/Yolei angst, or Kari/Yolei romance, let me know.

Hope you keep reading, and please don't forget to review.


	8. Dark SEED: Warrior of the Sky

Davis here. Last time, a strange girl named Tatum appeared in front of Tk and told him not to let his past rule his future. The thing is, she knows him, but he has no idea who she is! Meanwhile, Ryo told Kari to head to a place where a Destiny Stone was hidden to find something called a Holy Weapon. That weird group, Dark SEED attacked us! We were trying to protect the stone when their leader, a kid named Hiroshi appeared and merged with his partner, Megaseadramon, using his own Holy Weapon! If Dark SEED destroys all of the Destiny Stones, then the Digital World is in serious trouble!

Dark SEED: Warrior of the Sky

Tk placed a hand over his forehead to protect his eyes from the sun as he gazed across the mountain peak. His field of vision incorporated the remaining mountains in the hilly range, as well as the clouds floating along the digital sky. He glanced over to his partner. "Well, I don't see anything, do you, Patamon?"

The small, orange digimon used his large, bat shaped ears to hover over to his partner and land on his shoulder. He pointed one of his hoofed paws towards a trail that vanished into the mountain. "We should try down there."

"Sounds like a plan," Tk smiled as he traveled down the path to a small stone building, similar to a small, one room church, a large black tower resting on top. The teenage boy turned to Patamon. "Well, there's the Control Spire, but do you know what that building is?"

The winged digimon shook his head. "No, I don't have any idea."

Tk frowned as he stared at the massive tower. "You'd think I'd remember placing a Control Spire here."

"We placed a lot of Towers," Patamon said, then flinched. "I'm sorry."

Tk shook his head. "It's all right. This was our mistake, and we'd better fix it." He reached for his digivice. "Ready to destroy another one?"

Patamon nodded and waited for the familiar rush of white energy he came to know as digivolution, but, it never came. When he turned to give a questioning look to his partner, he found that Tk was staring at the small building underneath of the Control Spire. "Tk?"

"Something inside of that building…Its'…It's calling to me…"

"What?" he gasped, "What are you talking about?"

Tk walked towards the small church, almost in a trance. He opened the door and disappeared inside. Patamon shot after his partner and entered into a small room, with a lone alter resting in the center, a large, yellow egg resting on top. The teenager walked over and lightly lifted the egg.

"Tk, what is that?" Patamon asked.

The teenager stared at the strange symbol that was etched into the front of the egg. "Sincerity," he said, "I bet this is a Digimetal, just like the ones that the Digidestined have."

Patamon's face broke into a smile. "Really? I can armor digivolve?"

Tk nodded. "Yeah, I guess you can. Come on, let's test this thing out." They both ran outside of the building and stared up at the black tower resting on top. Tk held his digivice and the new Digitmetal in both of his hands. "Now, what did they say? Oh yeah, I remember. Digi-armor energize!"

Patamon felt a new rush of energy, similar to the feeling of digivolving, but somewhat less intense. "Patamon armor digivolve to Ponchomon! The Warrior of Sincerity!"

Tk stared in awe at the new form of his digimon partner. Poncomon was a large cactus digimon, wearing an equally large sombrero and an orange poncho. "Wow, is that you, Patamon?"

The digimon nodded. "_Si_, it is I, Ponchomon, an armor digimon! With my earth-based attacks, I can destroy any Control Spire!"

Tk grinned as he pointed at the black tower resting on top of the stone building. "Why don't you start with that one?"

"_No problemo!"_ he replied, jumping onto the top of the stone room. He pulled his left arm back, then slammed his fist into the black tower. "Tequila Knuckle!" A large crack appeared in the side of the tower. He slammed his other fist into the crack, causing it to spread even farther.

He took a deep breath. "Third time's the charm!" He executed his attack again, slamming his fists even harder into the already weakened material of the Control Spire. The crack spread across the other three sides of the tower, causing it to fall to the ground in a mighty crash.

Tk nodded. "Great, only about a thousand more." His smile faded as he walked over to the edge of the mountain and gazed down at the pasture below him, littered with hundreds of Control Spires. He shook his head. "How could I have done this? How did I allow myself to do this?" He sighed again, "I don't even remember how those Control Spires work, what kind of a monster was I?"

"I thought I told you not to live in the past."

Tk twirled around and saw a familiar braided haired girl standing in the shadows of the setting sun. Behind her was a winged serpent that only served to make Tk feel another pang in his heart. "An Airdramon, is that your partner?"

Tatum nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry, I enslaved so many of them."

Tatum smiled again. "You still don't listen to anything I have to say, do you? Do not live in the past."

Tk shook his head. "It's not that easy."

She only frowned as she reached into her robe and removed a long object wrapped in cloth. "Here, this is for you."

Tk took the object and slowly unwrapped it to reveal an elegant sword. "What is this?"

"One of the five Holy Weapons of the Digital World," she answered.

Tk stared in awe at the weapon in his hands. "Why are you giving it to me?"

She smiled. "Because it's yours. You found it and gave it to me for safe keeping."

"I did?" he asked, lightly shaking his head, "I'm sorry. I really wish I could remember you."

Tatum smiled slightly. "I'm sure you will."

Tk stared at the sword in his hands. "I must have really trusted you to give you something like this."

Tatum nodded and pulled out a pendant that was hanging around her neck. "I was given this Crest of Reliability because of that trust."

"Reliability?" Ponchomon asked.

"Isn't that Joe's Crest?" Tk asked.

"When the original Digidestined died, some of their Crests went to different owners. The Crest of Courage is held by Kari, you have the Crest of Friendship; Ryo Akiyama holds the Crest of Knowledge; and I have the Crest of Reliability."

"What about Love?" Tk asked.

Tatum frowned. "That was one of the Crests taken by the dark powers and corrupted, along with Deception and.." She hesitated before saying, "Abandonment."

Tk just nodded. "So, Love is now Hate?"

"Yes, unfortunately." She smiled slightly, "They do say that there is only a thin line between them, but there are two more crests that you must know about."

"What?"

"The Crest of Miracles, that is held by Davis Motomiya, and the powerful Crest of Spirit that is held by Hiroshi, the leader of Dark SEED."

Tk frowned, "Dark SEED?"

"They are systematically destroying the Destiny Stones that help keep the Digital World in balance. You can't let that happen. Join the other Digidestined in their fight."

He hesitated. "I..I don't know.."

"You must," she said, "You can't handle it by yourself." She turned around and jumped onto Airdramon's back. The dragon gave a small roar, then flew into the sky. "Remember!" Tatum shouted, "Don't let your past rule your future!"

Ponchomon turned to Tk. "Well, what shall we do?"

Tk frowned as he stared at the sword in his hands. "I don't know."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Hiroshi lightly tapped the arm rest of his throne as he stared at the group of digimon kneeling before him. The only other human in the room was standing loyally at his side; the only one he would even allow to stand in such a prestigious place, the faithful Yuehon. Her partner digimon, Candlemon, stood at her feet. His own partner, Penmon, was seated in his own small throne to the right of the Dark SEED leader's own.

Penmon, Yuehon, and Candlemon were not the problem; they were extremely loyally members of Dark SEED. They would not fail him, no, it was the four digimon kneeling before him. He glanced at each of the dark digimon, calling them out by name: "Skull Satanmon, Ladydevimon, Diaboromon, and Daemon. The infamous High Generals of Dark SEED, tell me, how goes the search for the Destiny Stones?"

Skull Satanmon spoke first. "The search continues, Master. We are shifting through many old legends to find their locations. We expect to locate the next one very soon."

"Excellent," Hiroshi grinned, "Now, for the matter of the Digidestined."

"No problem at all," Skull Satanmon grinned, "Why don't you just leave it to me?"

"Oh really?" Ladydevimon chuckled.

Skull Satanmon glared at her. "Really. Any one who'd be afraid of a couple of kids is a coward."

"A coward?" the devil woman snapped, "Have you forgotten that each one of their digimon partners has the ability to reach the Adult level? Not to mention that their leader's digimon can digivolve to the Ultimate level! How would you feel facing a Fully Digivolved angel?"

Skull Satanmon crossed his arms. "I am not afraid of any digimon!"

"Don't be a fool, Skull Satanmon!" Diaboromon yelled, "The threat those brats present are very real."

"I have to agree with Diaboromon," Daemon added, "Those digimon do present a threat, but I don't believe that they are something to be overly cautious about. Surely, I can handle them."

"Don't be so cocky," Skull Satanmon smirked, "All you do is blast and destroy. It's no fun killing your opponents so easily."

"I suppose you think you're the one to do it, huh?" Ladydevimon shouted.

"All of you, silence!" Yuehon ordered. The four generals instantly quieted and the Chinese girl turned to Hiroshi and bowed.

"Thank you," the Dark SEED leader nodded, "Dr. Yazuna has experimented on both Hikari Kamiya and Takeru Takashi, but there is still so much we don't know about their powers. Continue searching for the Destiny Stones, Yuehon, send a powerful digimon to Earth. I want to test those Digidestined's powers."

She bowed. "As you command, my lord."

Hiroshi nodded. "That is all."

Yuehon waved her hand. "You are dismissed." The four generals nodded and exited the throne room, leaving the two Chosen Children and their partners alone. The Chinese girl turned towards the Dark SEED leader. "Lord Hiroshi, which digimon should I send?"

"How about Marine Devimon? He's been getting restless lately."

She bowed. "As you wish, my lord." She and Candlemon exited the room.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei sat in her room, staring at a picture of Kari. She had taken the photograph during the brown-haired girl's last birthday. The two girls had gone to one of the amusement parks, a water park. The purple-haired girl could remember it well. Yolei insisted on wearing a cow-print bikini in order to capture the attention of the boys that were there. Yet, she could not remember any of the boys that she was sure were checking her out. All she could remember was the green and white stripped, two piece swimsuit that Kari was wearing. Was that because, even before she knew she was Sora and that Kari was Tai, part of her was attracted to the brown-haired girl?

She shook her head fiercely. "_No!"_ she thought, _"I'm not attracted to Kari on an intimate level! I'm a girl, but…Kari was Tai, and Sora was in love with him So, does that mean I'm in love with Kari?"_

She thought about the day that Kari and Yolei became friends, it was the first day of high school. The purple-haired girl was nervous about changing in the locker room; she was sure that one of the large senior girls was going to shove her into the toilet. Then she met Kari. She was amazed how easily the brown-haired girl stood up against the bullies. Since that day, the two girls had been the best of friends, but, was it only because of that connection? Was their entire friendship based on that relationship they both felt?  
She sighed as she placed the photograph back onto her dresser. She laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and her mind took her into her previous life.

_Sora watched with a feeling of supreme joy as she watched Tai run into Datamon's laboratory From her place strapped to the metal table she watched with horror as the Digidestined leader ran over to the clone that the evil cyborg digimon had created_

_"Sora!" Tai shouted, "Sora, are you okay?"_

_The lifeless clone continued to stare at him with emotionless, colorless eyes, "Sora, speak to me!"_

_"That's not Sora!" Biyomon shouted_

_Tai twirled to the left and saw the red-headed girl strapped to the metal table, with the pink bird held in place on the wall with thick metal clams "Huh?"_

_"That's just a copy!" the bird finished_

_"Here, Tai," Sora said_

_"And now that the copy is finish," Datamon chuckled, as a small robotic hand moved towards the clone with the tag and crest in its hands, "I will give her the magic crest and she will become the new Sora and do whatever I require of her"_

_"That's what you think you pile of bolts!" Tai shouted, grabbing the digivice and crest from the robotic hand_

_"No, what are you doing? I cannot allow a mere boy to soil my plans for vengeance"_

_Tai charged towards the table where Sora was lying, but gasped in horror as the table and the floor below her vanished She screamed as she fell into the darkness, but Tai slid across the floor, grabbing her arm before she could fall any farther_

_Datamon chuckled as he walked over "That is the center of Datamon's dark power network Whatever falls in there is lost for all eternity" His hands grew longer and he squeezed on both Tai and Sora's hands "And now, since I have no more use for the orginal"_

_"Tai!" Sora shouted, "Let me go, save yourself!"_

_"No!" he shouted, "I'll never let you go Sora, never!"_

Yolei shot open her eyes. She could remember that day so clearly while other parts of Sora's life were a blur, but that moment was so clear. It had to be the most important moment of Sora's short life, but would it become the worst part for Yolei Inoe?

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

On the other side of the city, Kari was experiencing similar difficulties as she stared at her own photograph of her water park birthday. She could clearly remember times when she felt a strange connection to Yolei, but she always thought it was just the fact that they were best friends. Could it have been more?

"_And that's not my only problem," _she thought. She sighed as she placed the photograph down and stared at her reflection in her mirror. She could clearly see that she was a girl, there was no question at all, yet, where were all of these male feelings and desires coming from? That was an obvious question, from her past life. The feelings and emotions she had experienced as Taichi Kamiya were overpowering her feminine qualities. Male and female feelings were clashing for control of her psyche. While she had never been attracted to girls before, she was beginning to notice feelings that were undeniable. Ironically, having these homosexual feelings flowing through her had augmented her own, _heterosexual_ feelings. She had found herself staring at attractive male teenagers one second, then their girlfriends the next. She was so confused; was she the female Kari or the male Tai?

Nyaromon yawned as she looked up from where she had been sleeping near Kari's pillow. She stared at her partner until the brown haired girl turned around to face her bed and stared into the eyes of her partner. "What?"

"Have you been seeing Tai in the mirror again?" she asked.

Kari sighed. "You mean my _real_ reflection?" She sat down and started to rub Nyaromon's head. "What am I gonna do? I'm so confused about everything! I don't even know who I am anymore!"

Nyaromon rubbed her head against Kari's thigh. "You're you, isn't that enough?"

The brown-haired girl continued to rub her head. "I know I'm me, but which me am I?"

"You're right," Nyaromon said,"It is confusing."

Kari smiled slightly and rose to her feet. She walked over to her closet and pushed a few dresses and skirts out of the way to reach a series of cubbies built into the wall. She made certain that her mother was not going to walk into her room before reaching into one of the cubbies and pulling out the artifact that she had acquired yesterday, the powerful Holy Weapon.

"What are you doing with the Holy Lance?" Nyaromon asked.

"Ryo told us we could use it to read the mega level. All we have to do is figure out how to use it."

"Hiroshi knew how to use it," Nyaromon pointed out.

Kari frowned. "Yeah, I know."

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you upset."

The brown haired girl shook her head. "No, it's okay. If Hiroshi can use his weapon so skillfully, then we're gonna have to figure out how to use mine."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Mrs. Motomiya sighed in annoyance as she knocked on her son's door for the hundredth time. "Da-vis!" she shouted. And for the last ninety-nine times, she did not receive an answer. She would have given up except that the beeping noise was keeping her from sleeping. She kicked the door open and jumped inside, only to find that her son was snoring loudly in his bed. " Davis!" she screamed, kicking him in the shoulder. He jumped awake.

"What? What?" he gasped, then stared at his sister. "Ahh!" he screamed. His mother had her hair wrapped in a green towel and her face was covered in a green substance.

She frowned and shook her head. "What now?"

"Sorry," he panted, "For a second, I thought I was looking at a space alien."

She huffed and crossed her arms.

"What is it, Mom?"

She pointed to his desk. "Your pager is ringing! Although I can't image you'd be able to find anything in that mess." She walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Davis frowned as he found his D-terminal underneath of his school clothes and opened the metal covering to reveal his Inbox. An urgent instant message from Gennai was blinking on the screen. " _Davis__, Dark Seed is moving towards the Destiny Stone of Fire! I need you to lead a team to defend it!" _

"_Why me?"_ he responded, "_What about Kari?"_

"_Trust me, you _need_ to be there! Go now, before it's too late! Enter the Digital Gate, and you'll be transported there! Hurry!"_

Davis sighed as he closed the lid and called out to his sleeping partner. "Veemon, get up! We've got to go to work."

The two partners entered through the Digital Gate and arrived in an area that was a circle of erupting volcanoes. Fault lines ripped along the ground as geysers of fire exploding from the ground. The sky was covered by billows of thick smoke that caused Davis and Veemon to fall to their knees and choke as they breathed in the air.

"Veemon," Davis hacked, "Where are we?"

"I think it's one of the Volcanic regions!" the blue digimon responded.

"It's okay," a familiar voice said, "Take a few breaths and you'll be okay."

The two did as they were told and found that they were able to breathe much better. Davis saw a human hand reach out to him and took a hold of his own outstretched hand to pull him to his feet. He gave a smile to the other person. "Thanks Derek."

"No problem mate," he smiled in return.

Davis looked around the area once again. "So, where's the Destiny Stone?"

"Over here," the Australian digidestined said, "Follow me."

Davis and Veemon ran after Derek and Crabmon as they ran through the volcanoes and exploding tremors until they reached a larger volcano with a large floating stone hovering above the mouth. "That's gotta be the Destiny Stone," Veemon commented.

"Here's the others," Derek mentioned to the base of the volcano. Catherine, Floramon, Ken, Veemon, Cody and Armadillomon were standing guard.

"Where's Kari?" Ken asked.

"And Yolei?" Cody added.

Davis shrugged. "I asked Gennai, but he didn't tell me anything. I guess we're on our own. No problem, I can handle this."

The others all rolled their eyes. "What?" he asked, "Hey, Ryo told me I was the heir to Taichi Kamiya! That's why I'm wearing his goggles."

"Then zose belong to Kari," Catherine said.

Davis considered this for a few minutes, then shook his head. "You know, you're right. What did Ryo mean when…?"

"Hey," Cody shouted, "Look! I think Dark SEED's coming!"

The other digidestined shot their eyes to where their younger member was pointing. A large force of Numemons were traveling along the ground while a group of Bakemon came flying in from the sky. "All right," Davis said, grabbing his digivice, "Digivolve!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Coelemon!"

Cody grabbed his D-terminal. "Digi-armor energize!"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to Submarimon! The Reliable Guardian of the Sea!"

Exveemon led the other digimon into battle by smashing his way through a group of Nuememons. Stingmon followed closely behind him and used his glowing saber to slice the Bakemon's in half. Kiwimon kept her feet firmly planted on the ground and shot her bird shaped daggers into the Nuememons, throwing them into place for an assault by Coelemon and Submarimon. The five digimon working together soon decimated the invading army to only a few surviving members who were too scared and frightened to continue fighting.

"Ha!" Davis laughed, "We sure showed them!"

Cody gasped. "Um, Davis, I think maybe we've got a bigger problem."

"What?" he asked, still grinning.

Cody pointed to the sky. "Him."

Davis twirled his head to the night sky and his smile faded. A large dark creature was hovering in the air and landed on the ground. This dark digimon stared at the Digidestined, but smiled when he saw the goggle wearer. "You! I remember you!"

Davis gulped. "Hey, Exveemon, isn't that…?"

"Yeah, that's Diaboromon, the guy that we buried when that church collapsed on him," Exveemon paled.

"That's correct, Motomiya, isn't it?" he chuckled, "What luck, I can destroy the Destiny Stone of Fire and kill you at the same time."

All of the digimon leapt in font of their partners. "You're not going to get passed us!" Exveemon shouted,

Diaboromon chuckled. "I beg to differ. Web Wrecker!"

Each one of the digimon were hit so hard and at such close proximity that each one except for Exveemon were thrown back to their rookie forms. The blue dragon rose back to his feet and clenched his fists. "Wanna try that again?"

Diaboromon chuckled as he held up his hands, which were covered by two spiked gauntlets. "Maybe I should rip you apart with these."

"Let's see ya try!" Exveemon shouted, running towards him with his fists outstretched. He began to pound Diaboromon with his blue knuckles, but the evil digimon simply shrugged each one off. When Exveemon had driven himself to exhaustion, Diaboromon slammed him in the face, causing him to fly onto his back.

"Exveemon!" Davis shouted, "I know you can do it! Don't give up!"

Diaboromon chuckled as one of his arms suddenly stretched like an elastic band. Exveemon quickly dodged out of the way, but he was not the mega's target. The dark digimon stretched his hand over to where the Digidestined were standing and wrapped his gauntlet hand around Cody. The digimon tried to free him, but the youngest digimon was soon at the mercy of Diaboromon.

"Cody!" Armadillomon shouted.

"Don't any of you move!" Diaboromon warned, "Or this one gets it, understand?"

"Don't worry about me," Cody struggled to say under the pressure of Diaboromon's grip, "Exveemon, stop him."

The blue dinosaur remained in place. "What do I do?"

"You couldn't stop me anyway," Diaboromon grinned, "Now, I don't want any distractions while I destroy that Destiny Stone, so everyone just stay out of my way!"

"You've got to protect that stone," Cody said, "It's a thousand times more important than me! You've got to protect the Destiny Stone!"

The night sky was suddenly illuminated as Cody's digivice actived and showered the volcanic area with the light of digivolution. "Armadillomon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

The new ground digimon charged forward and head butted Diaboromon, throwing him off balance and allowing Cody to escape his grip. The youngest digidestined quickly ran over to where the others were standing. After he made certain that he was not injured, he turned to where his new partner was standing. "Armadillomon?"

"That's right Cody, I am Ankylomon, a Champion digimon. And I'm going to stand by Exveemon's side as he fights Diaboromon."

The evil digimon smirked as he stared at both of the newly digivolved Champions. "Do you honestly believe you can stand up against me? Ha ha ha! You're both in for a surprise! Cable Crusher!"

His arms once again shot forward like two elastic bands with his spiked metal gauntlets on his hands. His right hand smashed into Exveemon, while his left hand headed for Ankylomon. The large dinosaur jumped into the air and executed a back flip, bringing his spiked tail down onto his arm.

"Tail Hammer!"

Diaboromon compensated by swinging his right arm, with Exveemon still in his grasp, into Ankylomon. Both digimon were thrown into the next nearest volcano. The evil mega did not waste any time and leapt to the top of the volcano containing the Destiny Stone of Fire. With simple ease he fired blasts of energy from his chest. "Web Wrecker!"

"The Destiny Stone!" Cody shouted.

The magic stone of fire was shattered, sending small bits showering over the volcanic area. Diaboromon snatched the large boulder that was in the center. He grinned as he stared at the digidestined stared up at him. "You are nothing, you can't fight against Dark SEED!" He chuckled, "Farewell."

"No!" Davis shouted as the evil mega vanished in the sky.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

While Davis and company were battling Diaboromon in the Digital World, a new threat was ready to appear on Earth. An ocean liner was making its way to the harbor of the city, that is, until a large white tentacle flew up out of the water and wrapped itself around the large sea vessel. The captain quickly ordered everyone to the escape vessels. The passengers had all escaped seconds before the boat was torn apart. The passengers watched in horror as a massive black creature emerged from the depths. "What the heck is that thing?" the captain shouted.

Back in her room, Yolei sighed in anger and slammed her fist down onto her desk. "What's wrong?" Hawkmon asked.

"I hate math!" she growled, "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! I don't understand why we have to learn this! It's so stupid!"

"But Yolei," Hawkmon argued, "It's one of the essential skills for life. Even digimon are taught simple math."

"I bet your teacher wasn't as bad as Mrs. Kawaza," Yolei sighed. She leaned back in her seat and looked out her window. When she did, she stared as a large black creature thundered by. "Uh, Hawkmon, what was that?"

Inside of the Kamiya apartment, Kari was playing with her computer. Nyaromon was sitting on the desk, adding her own advice as her partner controlled the figure on the screen, making it run through the dark forest, attacking the monsters and ogres that were leaping out at it.

"No!" Nyaromon shouted, "To the right, to the right! No..no, go to the left! Attack him, no, jump, jump, attack…"

Kari gave an exasperated yell as her computer warrior was destroyed. A large GAME OVER appeared on the screen. She gave her partner an icy glare and the cat digimon slunk back. "Sorry."

She was about to start a new game, when her mother knocked on her door. "Kari?"

The brown-haired girl quickly closed the game window and maximized the window containing her word processor, which had her school report open. "Yes, Mom?"

"The phone is for you. Keep it short."

"Yes, Mom," she said. She ran over to the telephone. "Hello?"

"Kari! It's Yolei, why are you home?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"A giant digimon is attacking the city!"

"What?" she gasped.

"Yeah, just follow the trail of destruction and the screaming people! I'll meet you there."

A few minuets later Kari and Nyaromon were running down the street, pushing through the sea of people running in the other direction. No one seemed to notice the brown haired girl or the strange bouncing ball running behind her, but Kari was well aware of the destruction the people were fleeing from, as well as the cause of that destruction. Both Kari and her partner could clearly see the massive beast that was staring down at them. "Nyaromon, who's that?"

The invader spoke answered before Nyaromon could speak. "I am Marine Devimon, I come from Dark SEED."

Kari frowned. "Them again?"

"Prepare to be destroyed!" Marine Devimon growled.

Nyaromon bounced forward as Kari's digivice began to glow. "Nyaromon digivolve to Salamon!" She continued to the charge towards the dark digimon, "Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

Marine Devimon swung his white tentacle in an attempt to flatten the white feline, but she gracefully leapt out of the way. The water demon's tentacle smashed into the ground, shattering the sidewalk. Gatomon landed on the white tendril and climbed up to reach Marine Devimon's face. She gave a swipe with her claw and succeeded in creating a giant claw mark on his face. The devil gave his shoulders a fierce shake, which caused Gatomon to lose her balance. Kari called out her partner's name as she fell to the ground. The white feline was saved when a familiar brown feathered bird caught her and gently brought her to the ground.

"Halsemon?" Kari asked. She turned around and saw Yolei running towards her. She felt a strange feeling in her heart, a deep longing for the purple-haired girl, but she fiercely shook that feeling from her body. "Yolei?"

The taller girl nodded. "Right. Halsemon, are you ready to cream this guy?"

"You got it!" the armored digimon replied. "Gatomon, are you ready to attack this guy together?"

The feline grinned. "Yeah, let's do it."

Halsemon flew up to Marine Devimon's face and fired two red beams from his eyes directly at the demon's face. "Eagle Eye!" The head of the aquatic digimon was thrown back slightly, allowing Gatomon to began to pound his face repeatedly. The devil digimon slammed his head into Gatomon, throwing her, once again, towards the ground. Halsemon tried to fly after her, but Marine Devimon executed his Acid Ink attack, covering Halsemon in a black slime.

"Halsemon!" Yolei shouted. Her partner crashed into the ground and was covered in a bright light, shrinking back to his Hawkmon form.

"Oh no!"

Yolei turned to Kari when she heard her friend call out. Gatomon was attempting to climb up Marine Devimon's leg to reach the devil's face, but the aquatic demon repeatedly through her down. "I've got to evolve her to Angewomon, it's the only way."

Yolei sighed. "I wish I could help her. This is just like our past lives, Tai was always rescuing me, always saving me, from Datamon to Mammathmon to Whamon. I just wish I could help!"

Her digivice suddenly became to glow brightly. Kari turned to her, too distracted to concentrate on making her crest glow. "Yolei?"

The purple-haired girl nodded. "Yeah. Hawkmon…!"

Hawkmon flew towards Marine Devimon. "Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon!"

Kari and Gatomon both gasped at the new Champion digimon that was flying towards Marine Devimon like a missile. Both of his horns glowed as she sped directly towards the demon's chest. "Grand Horn!"

Marine Devimon was directly in his chest, throwing him off balance. As he stumbled backwards, he swung his hand out and grabbed a hold of the large bird. He was able to regain his balance and smash Aquillamon into the ground.

Kari remembered her previous mission and grabbed hold of her digivice. Suddenly, their demonic opponent's head went flying backwards as a beam of white light crashed into his face. The two humans and their digimon twirled around and gasped as they stared at a hovering man with large white wings. "Is that an angel?" Yolei asked.

"He's Angemon," a familiar voice responded, "He's my Champion partner."

The two humans and their digimon moved their attention to the sidewalk to see a familiar blond haired boy. "Tk?" Yolei gasped.

"But how do you have an angel partner?" Kari gasped, "What about Devimon?"

"Now's not the time," he said, running over to them, "We've got to stop Marine Devimon! I can help!"

"Why should we trust you?" Gatomon growled.

"Yeah?" Aquillamon replied.

"No, it's okay," Kari said, "I believe him."

"Kari?" Yolei asked, "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Trust me."

The purple-haired girl nodded. "All right."

The blond haired boy turned away from the two girls and pointed to Marine Devimon. "All right, Angemon, attack!"

The angel man pulled his glowing fist back and then shot it forward, firing another white beam. "Hand of Fate!" Marine Devimon was too slow to successfully block the attack, and he was hit again. He stumbled backwards and his left fist crashed into one of the evacuated apartment buildings. A large I-beam was jarred lose and fell to the ground, heading straight for Kari.

"Look out!" Tk shouted, pushing her out of the way. The I-beam smashed into the ground and fell harmlessly onto the street. By saving Kari, Tk had inadvertently landed on top of her. He did not seemed affected by this, however, as he looked into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Y..yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."

Tk jumped back up and helped her onto her feet. "Okay, Angemon!" he shouted, "Just be a little more careful this time! Kari, Yolei, if all three of us attack at the same time, we should be able to beat him!"

"Aquillamon?" Yolei shouted.

"I'm ready, Yolei," the large bird nodded.

Gatomon looked over her shoulder, waiting for her partner's approval. "Kari?" The brown-haired girl did not respond, she was staring at Tk with a lost look in her eyes. "Kari!"

She snapped back to attention. "Yeah, go for it, Gatomon."

The white feline nodded and jumped onto Aquillamon's back as the large bird followed Angemon to begin their assault on Marine Devimon. As the their digimon combined their attacks to battle the colossal demon, Kari could only stare at Tk.

_"He saved me! He could have just stood by, but he saved me! He puts on a strong face, but I can tell how much he's hurting inside He feels so guilty for what he did as the Digimon Emperor, but he doesn't know why he did it He's so determine to make up for his past though and…Oh no! Am I getting a crush on Tk? Buthe's the reborn Matt! I can't have feelings for him, can I?"_

She was brought back to reality when she heard Yolei and Tk cheered for their partners. She turned around and watched as their three digimon executed a perfect three sided attack. Aquillamon attacked first by slammed the aquatic demon in the chest with his Grand Horn, and then Gatomon increased the devil's injury by swiping at his wound with her Lightning Paw attack. Finally, Angemon executed his Hand of Fate attack, smashing a beam of white light through his chest. He screamed in pain before his data exploded apart. The three Champion digimon lowered to the ground, regressing to their Rookie forms.

Yolei cheered for her partner and Kari grinned as she lightly scratched Salamon's head. "Great job." She turned to look at Tk, but found that he and Patamon were already leaving. "Wait!"

He turned around. "Yes?"

She placed a piece of paper in his hands. "I think we should talk about your past, and our forgotten memories. Why don't you call me sometime and we can discuss it?"

Tk nodded. "Sure." He turned and disappeared in the night. The brown-haired girl turned around and walked over to where Yolei and Hawkmon were waiting. Neither girl said anything for a few minutes before they both blurted out.

"Kari…"

"Yolei…"

They stopped and Yolei mentioned to her. "Go..go ahead. You first."

Kari nodded. "We really need to talk, about everything that's going on…about us."

Yolei shook her head. "I…Yeah, we need to. "

Loud sirens started to blast through the city. "We'd better go," Yolei said, "We'll talk later.

Kari nodded as she watched the purple-haired girl run off. "Yeah."

"Marine Devimon failed?" Hiroshi asked.

Yuehon nodded. "Yes, Lord Hiroshi, but we did discover that Takashi's digimon has the ability to digivolve to the Champion level, and it is an angel digimon as well."

Hiroshi nodded. "Yes, I see. Both Kamiya and Takashi have angel digimon, but they aren't acting as a team yet?"

"No sir."

The Dark SEED leader nodded. "I see. Prepare for the next Destiny Stone. Only a few more, and then ultimate power will be mine!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

_Preview: _

_Dark SEED continues its hunt for the remaining Destiny Stones. Kari invites Tk to lunch in order to discuss their past, but their quest leads them to Shamanmon, the guardian of the Destiny Stone of Air. Dark SEED arrives shortly afterwards to lay waste to the city. _

_Next: "Dark SEED: Power of Friendship." Even our greatest enemies can become our most trusted friends. _


	9. Dark SEED: Power of Friendship

Kari here. Last time, Dark SEED sent its general, Diaboromon to destroy the Destiny Stone of Fire. Armadillomon digivolved to Ankylomon in order to defend it, but it was no use. Meanwhile, on Earth, Yolei and I were both having hard times adjusting to our new selves. Marine Devimon attacked, and Hawkmon digivolved to Aquillamon. Tk showed up and Angemon, Gatomon and Aquillamon were able to destroy him. But I think I'm starting to get a crush on Tk! Which means I've got feelings for both Tk and Yolei! Oh boy!

Dark SEED: Power of Friendship

Gennai sighed as he stared up at the holographic image of the Digital World situated in his office. A series of blinking lights appeared on the multicolored planet, three of these lights blinked at a slower rate until they vanished. "This isn't good."

"I know," Ryo answered, emerging from the living room, "The Destiny Stones of Forests, Fire and Earth have been destroyed and all ready we are feeling the repercussions. The forests are dying, the earth is losing its vitality, the heat and warmth is slowly disappearing. When Light, Water, and Wind are gone, the Digital World will become a barren, lifeless, frozen, dark desert."

"And that's the best-case scenario," Gennai replied, "We'd just better hope that Dark SEED doesn't know about the hidden Destiny Stones. Still, if the Destiny Stones of the Elements are destroyed, then enough of the shield protecting the Digital World should be weakened. Dark SEED could travel to any world they wanted." He sighed, "But where could Hiroshi want to go?"

"Anywhere with power," Ryo sighed, "Does it really matter? If only we had some idea of what exactly he's after, then maybe we could be better prepared."

Gennai nodded. "Yes, I know. All of this running around without any idea of what's happening is really starting to annoy me." He lightly tapped his chin, "What can we possibly do?"

Ryo sighed. "We can only put our faith in Kari and the others."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari lightly tapped her fingers on her wall as she looked into her closet. She hummed to herself as she pulled out a yellow skirt and a matching blouse and placed them both in front of her body as she examined herself in the mirror, the way only a woman can. She shrugged slightly and placed them both in the 'maybe' pile on her bed. She grabbed a pink long sleeved dress and examined the article of clothing in the mirror in the same way as the others then frowned and dropped it into a pile on the floor.

Salamon looked at the pile on the floor and then at the pile on the bed. "I guess you can't find anything to wear, huh?"

Kari frowned. "No. I just realized that I don't have anything really nice to wear."

She heard the doorbell ring as she started to hang up her rejected pile. "I don't understand why you have to wear special clothes anyway," Salamon said.

Kari shook her head. "Sometimes we like to look nice for special reasons." She heard a knock on her door.

"Kari?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Yolei's here."

The brown-haired girl looked around her room. There was not going to be enough time to clean up the clothes. "Uh, sure. Come in."

The door opened and Yolei walked inside. "Kari," she gasped, "It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon and you're still in your pajamas?"

She mentioned to the clothes on her bed. "I've got nothing to wear," she said, grabbing the clothes off of the floor.

"What's wrong with your regular clothes?" the purple-haired girl asked, "What's the special occasion?"

"Oh!" Salamon spoke up, "It's because…" Kari dropped the pile of clothes onto her partner.

"Oh, sorry," she said, "It slipped." She quickly spoke to Yolei before her partner could speak up," So, why are you here?"

The purple-haired haired girl's smile faded as she sat down on the bed. "We really need to talk about..us."

Kari sighed, "Yeah, I know." She sat down next to her friend and stared at her in the face. A strange feeling shot though her body and she turned away. "Sorry, it's just getting kinda hard to…"

"Look at each other without feeling weird?" Yolei asked, "Yeah, I know. I've been feeling the same way." She took a deep breath, "I keep questioning myself every time I think about our entire relationship. Were we friends because of Tai and Sora's relationship?"

"That can't be!" Kari protested, "We didn't know who we once were when we became friends."

Yolei shook her head. "Kari, look at how different we are."

"Opposites attract, right?"

The purple-haired girl sighed again. "This is hard for me too, but I think that…that I'm starting to…to fall in love with you," she blurted out.

Kari looked shock, then nodded. "Yeah, I know. But…I know we're not saying it, but you _are_ Sora and I _am_ Tai. Tai and Sora were in love, that's why we're in love with each other."

"Listen to me," she said, more forcefully, "Tai was a boy, you are a girl."

Kari was shocked. "I know that…"

"..and it's not like you even act like a boy," she continued, "Probably because you've spent more time as 'Kari' then as Tai. But I'm a girl too, and even if you are..open minded, I don't feel that way. But I can't get you out of my head."

She stood up and walked over to stare out of Kari's window. "I need more time to sort all of these feelings out, but…" She turned back to look at Kari, "I don't want to stop being friends."

Kari smiled. "I don't want to stop either, but I guess my feelings for you are a lot stronger then what you're feeling for me."

"I highly doubt that," she said, "Like you said, I _am_ Sora, and you _are_ Tai. And I do love Tai."

Kari felt a sharp pain in her heart. She had said _Tai_ not _Kari_ "So, you mean…"

"I don't know what I mean!" she shouted, "Sorry." She took another deep breath, "I think that maybe…maybe we should spend some more time together, I mean not as best friends, but as…"

Kari nodded. "Yeah, I understand, but why..?"

"Because I need to see, to _really_ see if I'm in love with you," she smiled slightly, "I'm sorry to have kept you. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye," the brown-haired girl said, watching as Yolei left the room and closed the door behind her.

Salamon pushed herself out of the pile of clothes. "So, what does this mean? I'm so confused."

Kari sighed. "That makes two of us."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The city of Shutu rested high in the mountains of the Digital World. It was a jewel for flying digimon traveling long miles over the massive planet. Hours of flying could dampen a digimon's energy, so a city built at such a high elevation subtracted the need to fly to the ground and back to the sky. This particular city contained an added attraction, a mystic of incredible psychic powers.

One of the residents of the city, a young Biyomon flew through the large stone towers until she reached a towering pyramid. She flew up the stairs to reach the small square room resting on the top. She landed and nervously walked inside. She found a figure sitting cross legged on a mosaic designed mat. "Shamanmon?"

"What is it, my child?" a green skilled goblin with a large wooden club asked.

"Your prophecy sir, I believe it is coming true."

The older digimon chuckled slightly as he rose to his feet. "Well, we shall see." He walked towards the entrance of his stone room. "My dream told me that dark clouds were dropping from the sky." He stepped into the sun and stared at the blue sky. "Well, this is interesting," he commented as a group of black spots appeared in the sky.

"We think they are part of a force called Dark SEED," the Biyomon said, "The Guardians warned us that they were looking for Destiny Stones."

"Really?" Shamanmon asked, "Then they most certainly are searching for our Destiny Stone of Air." He turned around to look at another figure that was standing inside of his stone room. "Can you help us?"

Tatum walked into the light. "I will tell the Digidestined at once."

The green mage nodded. "And I will speak to the former Digimon Emperor, as you wish."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk lightly tapped the table in front of him as he stared at the door to the small diner. He felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw that a girl had entered, but his heart returned to its normal rhythm when he noticed that the girl had long blond hair. He leaned back in the booth seat and sighed. "Man, I've got to take it easy."

"What's wrong, Tk?" Patamon asked from his backpack, which he had left on the seat next to him.

"I'm just nervous," he said.

"Why? You've seen her before, what's there to be nervous about?"

He turned to stared at the small opening in his backpack "

"Excuse me," he heard a girl's voice behind him.

He smiled slightly as he turned around. "I've been waiting for…who are you?"

The black haired teenager smiled slightly as she pointed to her name tag. "You can call me Mizumi, and I'll be your waitress. Can I get you anything?"

"Um, not yet. I'm waiting for someone."

She smiled. "Sure. I'll come back in a few minutes."

Tk nodded and watched her leave. "_She was cute,"_ he thought, _"Man, when I was Matt, I had girls falling all over me How come now I can't even really talk to a girl? Matt could talk to a girl, of course, Matt wouldn't have become the Digimon Emperor! He would have been able to fight it off!"_

He sighed as he looked back at the door to the diner. He smiled when he saw a familiar teenage girl with short brown hair enter. His heart began to jump into his throat again when she walked over to his table. "Hi, Kari."

She smiled sweetly. "Hi, Tk." She had finally decided on wearing her yellow skirt and blouse and a white beret. She placed her large pink bag in the seat across from Tk and sat down, breathing heavily. The blond teenager mentioned to the bag. "What's in there that's so heavy?"

"Salamon," she sighed, "She insisted on coming along."

Tk mentioned to his backpack. "Patamon's in there."

Both teenagers stared at each other in an uncomfortable silence. "So," Tk said, "Why did you want to meet me today anyway?"

Her face began to lightly blush. "_Because even though you're really Yamato Ishida and I'm really Taichi Kamiya, I think I'm starting to fall in love with you Please, take me away on your white horse to be the loyal queen at your side"_ she thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "Because we both have a common past that we can't remember. Something happened to us in that desert, and I think we should try to find out what."

Tk paled slightly. "What's wrong?" Kari asked.

"That memory," he explained, "I don't know why, but every time that I try to remember it, I become…nervous, sweaty, sick to my stomach. Like every time I try to remember, I become sick." He sighed, "I think that part of me doesn't _want_ to remember. All I know is that whatever happened in that desert, made me the Digimon Emperor."

Kari smiled slightly and reached across the table to hold his larger, rougher hands in her smaller, delicate grip. "Oh, Tk, don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this. Now think, what can you remember?"

Tk closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat. "Well, I can see the desert. I'm walking across it, but I can't tell if it's as me or when I was Matt."

Kari nodded. "Go on."

"Someone else is with me. It might be you, but I'm not sure."

"Me as Kari, or me as Tai?"

"I'm not sure. We're fighting someone or something, really powerful." He twitched slightly, "A darkness was under the sand. It started..slithering? Yeah, slithering, like a snake. We knew it was going to attack us, but we didn't know when." He suddenly gave a small scream and opened his eyes. Everyone in the restaurant turned to stare at them but Kari ignored the inquisitive glances.

"What?"

He shook his head. "I..I don't know." The blond teenager took a few large gulps of water to calm himself down. He looked over at the eyes of the brown-haired girl. Momentarily, he saw the same chocolate eyes of his friend, Tai Kamiya. He felt this a bit unnerving, but continued speaking. "What about you? Do you remember anything?"

She sighed. "I don't really remember anything except I think that we were Matt and Tai. But maybe I'm thinking of something else. She grumbled. "This is so confusing. How are we suppose to figure out anything when we don't know what's going on?"

"Well, "Tk said, "If we were Matt and Tai, in a desert, maybe it happened when we fought Etemon?"

Kari shrugged. "Maybe, but I had Wargreymon, that didn't happened until after we fought Myotismon."

Tk frowned. "Yeah, I remember him." He shivered slightly, "Do you remember when we met each other in that warehouse?"

Kari nodded. "Yeah, I do, right after he started to take over the city."

The teenagers stared at each other in an uncomfortable silence. "You know," Tk said, stumbling over his words, "I…um…you…"

"What?" she asked.

Tk blushed and turned his attention to the window to watch as people walked past. He then said something that he never thought he would ever say to Taichi Kamiya, "You look really pretty in that outfit."

Kari blushed. "R..really? Well, it was just something that I found in my closet, heh. You know, you don't look that bad yourself."

Tk felt his heart start to pound. An extremely cute girl had just told him that he looked nice. Both teenagers forgot their previous lives as Tai and Matt. The brown-haired girl reached her hand across the table and the blond boy did the same. Their hands met each other in the center of the table. They stared at each other for a long while before they heard someone stop in front of their table. They broke apart and cleared their throats. They turned to see the person, thinking that it was the waitress. Tk gasped at the sight of the teenaged girl. "Tatum?"

Kari glared at him. "Tatum?" she asked, "You know this waitress?"

"No!" he gasped, "I mean, she's not a waitress. She's been…helping me."

Kari turned to the red headed girl. "Tatum?"

She bowed. "Yes. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Taichi Hikari Kamiya. You two have come together to try and decipher your mysterious past."

"Do you know anything?" Kari asked.

Tatum shook her head. "No, but I think I know someone who can. A digimon mystic named Shamonmon. Unfortunately, you need to hurry if you want to meet him."

"What?" Tk asked.

"What do you mean?" Kari demanded.

"If you wish to know, you must come with me, both of you at once." She turned around and walked to the door. Kari and Tk glanced at each other, then grabbed their backpacks and followed her. She lead them to a small computer shop, where a computer monitor was being displayed. She pointed her digivice at the monitor and the three humans, along with their digimon partners were pulled through the Digital Gate.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hello, Kamiya residence."

"Hi, Mrs. Kamiya, it's Yolei. Is Kari there?"

"Oh, hello Yolei. No, she isn't. She left a little while ago, I think she said something about meeting someone."

"Oh, did she say who?"

"No, she didn't. I think by the way that she was acting, it was a boy."

"A boy?" she gasped.

"Yes. She was dressed very nicely and didn't give me a straight answer, just like when I met her father. Oh, I'm sorry, I must be boring you. I will tell Kari you called."

"Yes, thank you." The purple haired girl placed the phone back onto the receiver and frowned, "A boy? I thought she was….what about me…? Maybe Mrs. Kamiya was just mistaken. Still…"

"What about you talking about, Yolei?" Hawkmon asked.

Yolei turned from her desk and looked to her bed where her digimon partner was sitting. "Kari just…hold on, that's my D-terminal." She reached over and grabbed her small personal electronic device. She flipped open the lid and reached her e-mail. She sighed slightly as she closed the lid and reached for the digivice that was lying on her desk. "Come on Hawkmon. Back to the Digital World once again."

"What's wrong?" her faithful partner asked.

"Another Destiny Stone is under attack," she sighed, " Davis just e-mailed me. That's where Kari probably is."

"I take it by your tone that you are not happy with this current mission?" the bird asked.

"I'm…it's nothing. Come on." She opened the Digital Gate and pulled her and her partner inside.

When she arrived in the Digital World she did the same routine she always did, examine her surroundings. She had materialized in a village, reminding her of a picture she had seen of an ancient village somewhere in South America. Incan, that was it. She could remember the painting of the houses and farmland built directly into the side of the mountain. She was sure that if she had lived during that time, she would have loved to be walking through the clouds, breathing in the fresh morning air, feeling the fresh air on her face, to be the Warrior of the Sky, as she was always meant to be.

"Yolei!"

She turned around and saw Davis leading the rest of the team, minus two important members. "Where's Kari and Salamon?"

He pointed to the top of a tall pyramid that towered above the other buildings. "She's up there, with him."

"Him?" she gasped, "Who?"

"Takeru Takashi."

"She's up there with him?" she shrieked.

"Now, Yolei," Hawkmon started.

"Don't 'Now Yolei' me! Why is she up there with him? Is he the one that she went on a date with?"

"Date?" Catherine asked, "Kari went on a date?"

"Hey!" Cody shouted, "I think we have a bigger problem right now!"

"What?" Davis asked.

"Up in the sky!" Armadillomon shouted, "In coming!"

The other teenagers turned to sky and gasped as the sky was covered in darkness. Davis frowned, "Get ready."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The green-skinned digimon bowed. "Greetings, I am Shamonmon. You are Hikari Kamiya and Takeru Takashi, correct?"

The two teenagers and their digimon partners bowed. "Yes," Tk said, "Tatum told them that you might be able to help us."

"Can you?" Kari asked.

The calm elder smiled slightly as he held out his hands and closed his eyes. "Now, let me see…please, close your eyes and concentrate on your mysterious past."

They both nodded. They thought back to their unreliable memories, their memories of wandering through the desert.

"Yes," Shamonmon said, "I see. You are wandering through the desert, chasing something?"

"Yeah," Kari said, "I think so."

Shamonmon nodded. "Yes, I can see your thoughts, but..you are not yourselves?"

Kari and Tk would have glanced at each other, but they were too deep in Shamonmon's trance. All they were able to do was answer, "Yes."

"I see," Shanomon smiled slightly, "You have souls older then your bodies, you were once Yamato Ishida and Taichi Kamiya."

"Yes," they both answered.

"I see. You are traveling through the desert as Yamato Ishida and Taichi Kamiya, a sandstorm is blowing around you. Yes, I can understand now. You are fighting a…digimon named…Etemon? Yes, Etemon the once ruler of the Server desert. You were facing him in the desert, and..you, Yamato Ishida, you were….I see a collection…nay, a life-form of black wires attacking you, piercing your neck."

Tk flinched. "Yes, I can remember now."

Shamonmon continued, "And you, Taichi Kamiya, were pulled into a time warp and returned home. Yamato Ishida, you attempted to keep the team together, but the infection from Etemon's Dark Network was already attacking your body, and your soul. You attacked Taichi Kamiya, you allowed yourself to be manipulated by Cherrymon, because of this evil. Could this be the reason that you became the Digimon Emperor? Could it be because your body was still feeling the influence of Etemon's Dark Network?"

Tk started to experience seizures across his body. "Yes…"

"But there is another desert in your memories," he said, "Another mystery that needs to be answered. You are once again wandering through the desert, but you are more experienced at this point, perhaps later in your original quest? You are again chasing a powerful enemy, but this was far more powerful then Etemon. Another great evil attacked you and…" He was cut off when a loud explosion rocked the pyramid, breaking the trio out of their memories. "What was that?"

A Biyomon flew through the door and entered the room. "Lord Shamonmon, we are under attack!"

"Who is it?" Kari asked, "Dark SEED?"

"Yes, I'm afraid," she nodded.

Kari ran over to the entrance of Shamonmon's room. "Come on Salamon."

"Wait!" Tk shouted, "Let us help you."

The brown-haired girl nodded. "Right. Shamonmon, where is the Destiny Stone of this village?"

The green-skinned mystic walked over to a large mosaic that was hanging on the wall. He pulled down the multicolored fabric to reveal the large stone hidden behind it. "This is the Destiny Stone of Air."

Kari nodded. "Right." She looked out of the entrance of the room and watched the other digidestined battle against the Dark SEED army. "If any of them get past Davis and the others, then we'll be ready for them. For right now, we'll stay here and protect the Destiny Stone."

Patamon nodded. "We're ready."

Davis stared at the tall, skeleton digimon standing before him. "And you are?"

"My name is Skull Satanmon, one of Dark SEED's generals," he grinned a sinister smile, "And you are Daisuke Motomiya. Tell me, where is Hikari Kamiya?"

"Why?" Davis asked, "Are you too scared to face me?"

Skull Satanmon growled.

"Great job, Davis," Veemon sighed, "I think you made him mad."

"I fear no one!" he shouted, "Army, attack!"

The swarm of Vilemons shot down from the sky, heading straight for the Digidestined.

"Oh great, Davis!" Catherine shouted, swearing at him in a maelstrom of French obscenities. "Floramon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Colemon!"

"Armadillomon digivovle to Ankylomon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

Davis dove to the ground to avoid a flying Vilemon. "Exveemon!" Keep them from getting any closer! We've got to protect the Destiny Stone!"

Another Vilemon flew towards him from behind, but Exveemon saved his human partner by smashing the evil creature with his massive fist. "Don't worry, Davis!" he shouted, "I'm right behind ya!"

Colemon jumped into the air and fired his Fossil Bite at the swarm of the dark digimon, destroying them on contact. His human partner nodded in approval. "Way ta' go mate! Tear those Vileamon ta pieces!" Derek cheered.

"Colemon!" Ankylomon shouted, "Watch out behind you!"

The fish digimon spun around and gasped as a group of Vilemon were closing in on him and Derek. These evil digimon were destroyed when Stingmon appeared behind them and used his Spiking Strike to tear them in half.

"Thanks, Stingmon," Colemon said.

The insect digimon nodded. "Just watch your back."

A few feet away, Kiwimon had just destroyed the Vilemon that were attacking her. "Well done," Catherine said, "Now, let uz help ze ozers!"

Her bird digimon nodded and went to run to join the other digimon, when a familiar, giant ape dropped in front of her. "Apemon!" she gasped.

"Apemon?" Catherine asked. She started searching the village around her before she found the figure she was looking for, a teenage Chinese girl standing at the edge of the battlefield. "Yuehon."

The black haired girl nodded. "Yes, greeting Catherine."

The blond girl pointed at the pendant that was hanging around Yuehon's neck. "Give me ze Crest of Zincerity, now!"

"I do not possess the Crest of Sincerity."

"Of course not, because you corrupted it! You have perverted evert'ing my Crest waz!" she narrowed her eyes and stared at her, "I will have my crezt back! Kiwimon!"

The Chinese girl pointed at her digimon partner. "Apemon, crush her!"

Her partner nodded and grabbed his bone club and swung at Kiwimon, but in a surprising display of agility, the bird digimon leapt out of the way. She fired her bird-shaped daggers at her mammal opponent, but he used the same bone club to block the projectiles. Both combatants took a small breather and then leapt back at each other.

Davis ducked to avoid another Vilemon as he ran to the stand with the other Digidestined. He scanned the opposing army and noticed that something was somehow off. "Where's Skull Satanmon? And where's Yolei?"

Salamon and Patamon charge over to stand before their human partners as the Dark SEED general entered Shamonmon's small room on the top of the pyramid. "Don't even think about touching her!" Salamon shouted.

"Yeah!" Patamon warned.

The dark digimon laughed. "As if you could hurt me! Ha!" He walked around the small room, "No, you are not the ones that I want." He looked around the room until he found Shamonmon standing against the wall. "Ah, you are the leader of this village, are you not?"

"I am the oldest and the wisest," he answered.

"Then you know where the Destiny Stone of Air is, don't you?"

"He doesn't know!" Tk shouted, "But we do!"

"Ha!" the Dark SEED general laughed, "Don't insult my intelligence! You would not know," he pointed his staff at Shamonmon, "But he does! Now, where is it?"

"Don't tell him!" Kari shouted, "We can hold him off!"

"That will not be necessary," the green-skinned elder said, raising his palm, "I am sure that we can discuss this rationally."

Skull Satanmon laughed. "How's this for rationality, tell me the location of the stone, or I will destroy you."

Shamonmon laughed. "Tell me, how to you intend to find the location of the Destiny Stone if you destroy me?"

The devil digimon laughed. "Watch. Nail Bone!" He pointed his staff at the mystic digimon, deleting him instantly.

"Shamonmon!" Kari shouted.

"Shamonmon, no!" Tk exclaimed, "No, he…he could have…." The blond haired boy clenched his fists and growled in anger. "Patamon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

Kari twirled to her partner. "You too, Salamon!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

Gatomon ran along the floor while Angemon flew on the small air currents to reach Skull Satanmon. Kari's partner reached the devil digimon first and easily jumped into air to reach his face. She executed her primary attack. "Lightning Paw!"

The Dark SEED general laughed and easily blocked her attack with his one hand, then caught her small paw in his large hand. Angemon stopped his approach, uncertain of the consequences of his actions. Skull Satanmon laughed as he stared at the face of the struggling Gatomon. "I am an Ultimate of formidable powers, while you may be a powerful Champion, you are still no match for me!" He easily flung her into the floor, causing her to skid to Kari's feet.

"Gatomon!" she shouted.

"Angemon!" Tk ordered, "Take him down!"

The angel digimon swung his own staff at Skull Satanmon's staff, blocking each other in a mighty blast. They struggled to overcome each other, Skull Satanmon proved to be the stronger as he threw Angemon to the ground. He pointed his staff at Angemon, intending to fire his Nail Bone, but the angel digimon jumped back onto his feet and head-butted the devil digimon. He grabbed his enemy and tossed him over his shoulder, crashing into the wall. The shockwaves from this impact caused the mosaic to drop to the ground, revealing the Destiny Stone of Air.

"Oh no!" Angemon shouted.

"Excellent!" Skull Satamon laughed. He began walking towards the glowing stone. Angemon jumped back onto his feet and tried to fly over to Skull Satanmon, but he was not going to make it in time. Skull Satanmon pointed his staff at the Destiny Stone, "Nail…" He was suddenly thrown into the wall by a series of glowing red rings.

"Aquillamon!" Gatomon shouted.

"And Yolei!" Kari exclaimed.

The large bird smashed through the entrance with Yolei on his back. "Hang on guys!" the purple-haired girl shouted, "The Calvary's here!" She leapt off of her Champion partner as he shot towards their enemy. "Take care of him, Aquillamon!"

Aquillamon's two horns began to glow brightly as he shot towards Skull Satanmon. "Grand Horn!"

Skull Satanmon stared at the giant bird with his glowing horns. He raised his staff over his shoulder and used it like a bat to hit Aquillamon in the face, causing him to move towards the other wall, smashing his horns into the Destiny Stone of Air.

Yolei slapped her forehead. "Aquillamon!"

Her partner pushed himself away from the stone. The humans and their digimon partners stared at the Destiny Stone. A large crack had been formed in the side of the mythical stone. "It looks all right," Gatomon said.

Skull Satanmon grinned. "It won't be for very long. Nail Bone!" His energy blast smashed into the crack caused by Aquillamon, shattering the stone into dust. The resulting shockwaves spread through the walls, causing the room to shatter.

"Yolei!" Aquillamon shouted. He shot over to her and used his body to shield her from the falling debris. The purple-haired girl shot her attention to where Kari and Gatomon were standing. She wanted to run over and protect her, but she watched as Tk and Angemon ran over to push her out of the way. He tackled her to the ground and used his body to protect her. None of the debris reached them, but neither teenager pushed themselves back onto their feet.

Kari stared into Tk's eyes as she lay on the floor. "Y..you saved me!"

The blond-haired boy shrugged slightly, he was having trouble speaking, he was just lost in her eyes. "I couldn't just let you get hurt, or worse."

As they stared into each other's eyes, they forgot their past lives as Matt and Tai, all that mattered was Tk and Kari. Their faces moved closer to one another until their lips locked together. Underneath of Tk's shirt, a blue light enveloped the two teenagers.

**TK's digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a light blue hue It fired a beam of light from its screen up to his Crest of Friendship The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twirling Angemon**

**"Angemon digivolve to…"**

**Angemon's body dissolved into white fears that flew from his back and collected into a giant sphere, which cracked to reveal the figure of a crouching man He stood and flexed his body A layer of white clothes appeared over him A glowing sword appeared from his wrist while a purple hate appeared over his head He swung his sword down to demonstrate his power "Magna Angemon!"**

The newly digivolved Ultimate hovered above the remains of the top of the pyramid, staring at Skull Satanmon. "So you digivolved, who cares?" the Dark SEED general asked, "A lowly Ultimate is still a lowly digimon."

Magna Angemon's face remained unemotional as he stared at Skull Satanmon. "Perhaps you would care to see how powerful I am." A glowing sword emerged from a square object on his right wrist, "Feel the rage of my mighty sword, Excalibur!" He shot forward and swung his glowing sword at Skull Satanmon, but he blocked using his staff. Magna Angemon continued to press his sword against the evil staff, attempting to make Skull Satanmon weaken enough where his weapon would drop, allowing the angel a clear shot. This did not happen, unfortunately. The evil digimon twisted his staff around, twisting Magna Angemon's sword into a unpleasant position. The angel had no choice, he had to back off.

Skull Satanmon laughed. "You are pitiful! Just like your weakling partners!"

Magna Angemon glanced down to where Yolei was being shielded by Aquillamon, then over to where Gatomon was shouting encouraging cheers to the angel. He could not see Tk or Kari, but he assumed that they were safe somewhere, or else he would have regressed to his Rookie form. "They are not pitiful!" he protested, "They are stronger then you believe."

"Ha!" the devil laughed, "You're as pitiful as they are!"

Magna Angemon pointed his glowing sword at him. "We shall see!" He propelled himself forward once again. Skull Satanmon shot forward to meet him. The two opponents raced to meet one another, but the evil Dark SEED general stopped short and pointed his staff at Magna Angemon. "Nail Bone!"

The angel digimon twisted around Skull Satanmon and used his glowing sword to slice the evil digimon across the stomach. All were silent as the evil digimon slowly separated into two halves. His upper portion screamed as both halves were deleted.

"Magna Angemon!" Tk shouted. The hovering Ultimate angel smiled as he looked to the ground. Tk and Kari had appeared from where ever they had hidden themselves and were now cheering at him. "You did it!"

Magna Angemon suddenly gasped as he felt a dark presence behind him. He turned around and frowned at the floating figure of a long serpent digimon with a cloaked figured sitting on top. "Waru Seadramon."

"It's Hiroshi!" Kari shouted from the ground, "What are you doing here?"

The Dark SEED leader grinned as he surveyed the group. "Well, I see that Skull Satanmon was destroyed, he was a fool for underestimating you. I will not make that mistake."

"You didn't answer her!" Tk shouted, "Why are you destroying the Destiny Stones?"

"I'm surprised," he said, "Are you asking because you believe that the reason you wanted to destroy the stones is different from mine? Remember what you did with Kimeramon?"

The blond teenager frowned. "I…I don't remember."

"Ha ha!" Hiroshi laughed, "It's amazing what you do remember! Waru Seadramon!"

The large serpent shot towards the debris of Shamonmon's former room. Hiroshi grabbed a medium-sized stone from the remains of the Destiny Stone. "At least tell us what that thing is!" Gatomon demanded.

"This is the center of each Destiny Stone," Hiroshi explained, "The heart, if you will. It is here that the true essence of the stone is embodied. Now, if you'll excuse me." He turned to the battle below him, where the rest of the Digidestined had finished destroying the remainder of Skull Satanmon's army. "Yuehon, we're leaving!"

The Chinese girl looked away from where Kiwimon had her beak around Apemon's bone club. "As you wish, Lord Hiroshi. Apemon!"

"Right, oh ah!" he grunted. He pushed Kiwimon away with his leg and slammed her face with his club. He executed a series of back flips and landed next to his partner. Catherine stared up at the Chinese girl.

"I will have my Crest back!" she warned, "Zis iz not over, not by a long shot!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Yuehon grinned as Waru Seadramon flew overheard. Apemon grabbed her and leapt onto the Ultimate serpent's back. The leaders of Dark SEED disappeared into the mountain surrounding the village of Shutu.

"Damn it!" Davis swore, "They got away again!"

"Don't worry Davis," Derek said, "We'll get 'em someday soon."

Magna Angemon descended to the ground and was covered by a white light. He regressed past the Champion and the Rookie level and remained in his In-training form. Tokomon landed in Tk's arms. "You do great!" Tk smiled.

The small white digimon smiled. "Thank you."

"Tk."

The blond boy turned around and saw Kari stared at him. He started to blush, "Listen, about what happened…"

The brown-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, I know. I guess our original plan about sorting through our feelings didn't really help, huh? It just made a whole bunch of new problems."

Tk nodded.

"Thank you for saving me," Kari said, meekly, "I really appreciate it." She reached down and lifted Salamon in her arms, "Call me sometime, okay?"

Tk nodded. "I will. Now, why don't we get out of here?"

Yolei watched the exchange from a safe distance. "She's in love with him?" the purple-haired girl gasped, "She kissed him? I don't believe this!"

"What's wrong now, Yolei?" Hawkmon asked.

"Kari and Tk!" she gasped, "I think Kari's getting a crush on him, but..what about me?" She looked back at the others and saw that Tk and Kari were walking very close to each other. Behind their backs, their hands slowly met one another and their hands lightly gripped one another. Yolei watched this and felt a strange sensation in the left half of her chest as her heart broke in half.

"I was in love with her," she said, "I realize that now, but….no, I'm in love with _Taichi_ not Hikari. She's a girl, she's supposed to be with a guy." She swallowed, "I love Tai, but he's trapped inside of that girl body. I love Tai, but do I hate Kari?"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Yolei is suffering from heartache and confusion at seeing Tk and Kari together. Ladydevimon and Daemon of Dark SEED use these feelings to bring her under the dark side. _

_Next:" Dark SEED: The Crest of Hate." There is only a thin line between love and hate_


	10. Dark SEED: The Crest of Hate

Mon nom est Catherine.. Lazt time, Kari and Yolei were having difficulty adjusting to zier previous livez az Tai and Zora. Ze were in love, until Tai was reborn az Kari, who waz also developing feelings towardz Tk. We were called to a mountain village called Shutu to defend zier Deztiny Ztone of Air. We failed, but Angemon waz able to digivolve to Magna Angemon and defeat Skull Satanmon. During zis battle, Tk and Kari kissed one another while Yolei zaw. Ze poor girl.

Dark SEED: The Crest of Hate

Hiroshi stared at two of his three remaining generals, as well as the loyal Yuehon. "So, Skull Satanmon is gone."

"If you ask me, " Ladydevimon said, "He got what he deserved."

"Regardless," Demon interrupted, "Those Digidestined were able to destroy him, not a simple task. What happens if they continue getting stronger? We could be in serious trouble."

Hiroshi stared at him. "Anything in mind?"

"Yes," Daemon answered, "Turn one of them against the others!"

The Dark SEED leader lightly rubbed his chin. "Hmm, that might prove…interesting. Very well, I am putting you in charge."

The cloaked digimon bowed. "As you wish, my lord."

"Where is Diaboromon?" Ladydevimon asked, "It's not like him to miss a meeting."

"He is currently excavating ruins in the mountain range of the Server Continent," Yuehon answered, "He's looking for the Key Cards that we need to complete the gate."

"I see," Ladydevimon nodded, "Then, we are close?"

"Very close," Hiroshi answered with an evil smile, "Very close indeed."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei sighed to herself as she leaned back in her seat. She pushed herself forward and propped her head by putting her elbows on her desk. She stared at her teacher as he scribble words on the board in another language, most likely English. While she could normally read the language without much difficulty, her mind was currently stretched in too many different directions at once for her to be able to concentrate on the foreign language. She glanced across the room and was slightly happy to see that the other students were as confused as she was. She scanned the lost look on the other students, but her smile faded when her eyes stopped on the brown-haired girl that was currently causing the majority of her problems.

She had once been Sora Takenouchi, but that was before she had di...died and been reborn as Yolei Inoe. While that certainly took some adjustments, it was not as difficult as discovering that Sora's soul mate, the young man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with, had been reborn as a girl, Kari Kamiya. She was Sora and she loved Tai but if Kari was Tai, did that mean that she had to love Kari? After much soul searching, she discovered that she was in love with Tai, and he was now trapped inside of that female body. It was those stupid female hormones that made Kari kiss Tk. It was not Tai but Kari, that boy-crazy, two-timing…_"Oh!"_ she thought, _"Am I starting to hate Kari?"_

The bell rang, ending not only the period, but the school day as well. "About time," Yolei muttered as began to gather up her school supplies.

"Tell me about it," Davis said, walking up beside her, "At least the school year's gonna be over in a few days. I can't take much more of this."

Yolei smiled. "Any plans for the summer?"

The messy haired boy shrugged. "I donno, I'll have to wait and find out."

"Hi guys," Kari said, walking over to them, "What are you talking about?"

"Just stuff," Davis said, "Any idea where the other Destiny Stones are?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. Ken and Cody are looking right now. There are only two more left, and we can't let Dark SEED destroy them, or the entire Digital World is doomed."

Davis frowned. "So I guess we're not going for pizza now?"

"No, we're still going," she smiled, then hesitated. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited someone."

"Who?"

She took a deep breath. "Tk."

Yolei flinched. "What's wrong?" Kari asked.

"Um, nothing. My family is going out tonight, so I've got to get home. I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye," Kari said. _"I wonder what's wrong with her? Did she see me and Tk yesterday? Oh no" _

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The afternoon sun cast a red and yellow mosaic onto the mountain ground. A lone Numemon slithered along the rock-covered path as fast as he could. He tripped over a large pebble and his face slammed into the ground. He pushed himself back onto his rear and continued to slither up the mountain. He glanced over his shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief. They were not behind him any longer. He smiled slightly as he turned back to look forward, but stopped short when he saw a large Infermon drop in front of him.

"Ahh!" he shouted, falling onto his back, ""No, please…"

The giant spider growled. "You tried to escape. Tell us where the Key Cards are, and I will let you go."

"But, I don't know!"

"Not the right answer," the spider replied, "Spider Shooter!"

The Numemon screamed as the spider's attack shot through his body, deleting him. Dokugomon crawled back down the mountain to an area that was crawling with more multi-legged digimon, such as Keramons and Chrysalimons. They were dragging piles of dirt and debris from a large crater in the ground. The Infermon crawled over to a large hill and stared down at the workers. He felt a presence beside him and he straightened instantly. "Yes, Lord Diaboromon?" he asked.

"How does the excavation go?" the Dark SEED general asked.

"Not well," Infermon answered, "We can't find anything at all."

"Those Cards have to be here!" Diaboromon shouted, "This was the location of Myotismon's old castle, we need those cards!"

Infermon nodded. "Yes, I will continue the search."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei walked down the sidewalk with her hands in her plaid skirt pocket. This caused the gym bag that she had over her shoulder to shake and bounce against her side. "I say!" Hawkmon shouted from inside, "Do you think you could walk a bit slower? I feel like I'm inside of a washing machine!"

The purple-haired girl reached inside of the bag and lightly rubbed her partner's head. "Sorry, Hawkmon," she said, "My mind's being pulled in so many directions at once right now…"

"I know," the bird digimon said, "You haven't stopped talking about it."

Yolei frowned. "Oh really? Well sorry if I'm boring you! Hmp!" She crossed her arms and stormed forward, knocking into an older woman, throwing the bags onto the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said. She knelt down and started to help the older woman clean up her bags.

"No, that's okay," the woman said. When she knelt down, Yolei looked straight into her face. "Say, you look familiar; do I know you from somewhere?"

The woman gave Yolei a shocked look. "I don't think so."

The young teenager shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm just under so much stress right now." She smiled as she lifted the paper bags. "Here you are Miss."

The woman smiled. "Um, do you think you could give me a hand? My car is right over there and I have a bad back…?"

Yolei nodded. "Sure, no problem."

"Thank you," the white-haired woman said. She lead Yolei down the sidewalk to a large van parked near an old movie theater. The woman opened the side door. "Could you please put them inside?"

"Sure," Yolei smiled, placing the bags inside. She felt a hand on her back push her forward, throwing her inside the van. Her gym bag had been pulled off of her arms before the door slammed shut and the vehicle started moving. The purple-haired girl finally managed to roll onto her rear, allowing her to sit straight up. She looked around the van and found that the seats had been removed, all except for the two in the front, which were both occupied.

"What's going on here?" she demanded.

The white-haired woman was seated in the passenger seat. She reached into Yolei's gym bag and pulled out a struggling Hawkmon. The woman jabbed the bird with a syringe. Hawkmon quickly stopped moving and went limp in the woman's hand. She threw him onto the ground in front of the purple-haired girl.

"Hawkmon!" she shouted, shaking her partner, "Hawkmon! Talk to me, please!" When she received not answer, she glared at the white haired woman. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing to worry about, just a simple sleeping solution."

"Who are you?"

She turned to stare at Yolei. "I know that your memories may be faulty, Sora Takenouchi, but certainly you will recognize this!" She pulled a black mask over her head, leaving only the bottom part of her face uncovered.

"Ladydevimon?" Yolei shrieked.

"That's correct, but not the same one that protected Piedmon. I am a different being altogether, one of the Generals of Dark SEED. And I am more powerful then that fanatic who sought to protect the infamous Dark Master!"

Yolei swallowed. "Why did you kidnapped me?"

Ladydevimon grinned. "You'll find out, when we return to the Digital World, and meet up with Daemon."

Yolei had never heard the name 'Daemon' before, but it sent shivers down her spine. She began to sweat slightly.

"Yes," Ladydevimon continued grinning, "You should be worried. Now, don't take this personally, but…" Before the purple-haired girl could react, Ladydevimon jabbed a needle into her black pantyhose covered legs.

"Hey!" Yolei shouted, "That hu……." Her eyes drooped shut and her head fell back onto the ground.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Mizumi the waitress smiled to Kari as she placed three glasses of water down on the table. "So, back with two boys this time, huh? You must be one lucky girl."

Kari laughed nervously, "Heh heh, yeah..yeah…Heh."

She returned the grin. "I'll let you guys decide. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Been here before?" Davis asked, glancing at the menu.

Tk answered. "Kari and I were here yesterday, we never got a chance to finish."

"I see," Davis said.

There was an uncomfortable silence at the table before Tk sighed slightly and lowered his head. "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"What?" Davis asked, "No, I'm fine. Oh, you mean about the fact that you were the Digimon Emperor?"

Tk sighed. "Yes."

Kari kicked Davis's foot under the table. "What?" he asked, "He brought it up. Listen, man, you've got to stop being so hard on yourself. Hey, I make a lot of mistakes too, but you've got to learn from them. And it's not like you _consciously_ made the choice, Shamonmon told us that you became the Digimon Emperor because Yamato Ishida was infected by Etemon's Dark Network, right? So that could have been any of the original Digidestined." He mentioned to Kari, "Like Tai. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Tk stared at him, then smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"See?" Davis said to Kari, "I'm not a bad therapist, am I?"

She sighed and smiled at the same time.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When Yolei felt her senses began to return to her, she slowly opened her eyes to a blurred image. She shook her head from side to side in order to help bring the world back into focus. When she was finally able to see clearly she wished that her vision was still foggy. She was strapped to a cold metal table in what appeared to be a laboratory, filled with mechanical equipment. Bakemon and Vilemons were running around, checking the various equipment and machines. "Um, excuse me?" she asked.

"Yes, my dear?"

She turned to the owner of the voice and saw a towering figure wearing a dark red cloak, with two black wings pushing out of his back. She gasped. "Who are you?"

"My name is Daemon," he bowed, "And I welcome you to Darkness Falls, the darkness at the end of the Digital World."

"Where's Hawkmon?"

"Your partner is safe, have no fear. It is you that we are interested in."

She paled. "W..why me?"

Deamon reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a familiar shaped object. "Is that a Crest?" Yolei asked.

"Yes, and it once belonged to you."

"It did?" she asked confused, "But how…?" Realization dawned on her face, "You mean…?"

"That is correct," Daemon said, "The Crest of Hate."

Yolei chuckled. "What makes you think that I'm going to take a corrupted crest?" Her voice softened, with a touch of regret, "Even if it was mine."

"Because," Daemon said, "You have hate in your heart, you yourself are not aware of it."

"W..that's ridiculous!" she shouted, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! I don't hate anyone!"

Daemon chuckled. "Methinks thou dost protest too much."

"Very funny," she replied, "I'm telling you, I don't hate anyone."

"Very well," Daemon sighed, "I know of your, shall we say, problems, with Hikari Kamiya."

Yolei flinched. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really? Well, I should let you know that I was watching you yesterday, at the Village of Shutu."

"You were?" she asked, nervous.

"Yes," Daemon nodded, "I watched when Kamiya and Takashi kissed one another. I saw the expression on your face."

Yolei started shaking. "So what? I was a little jealous, yeah, I admit that. Who wouldn't be when they see the person that they have a crush on kissing someone else?"

"I think it's more then that," Daemon said, "You loved Taichi Kamiya, don't you?"

"….Yes."

"But he doesn't exist anymore, does he? He is now a girl named Hikari Kamiya, right? And as a girl, she has feelings for males, not females."

Yolei frowned. "R..right." She found that she was having difficulty arguing with him, almost like her will had been taken away from her.

"So," Daemon said, "She's turned her back on any feelings she had for you."

Yolei nodded, feeling something welling up inside of her. "Yes."

"She loves Takeru Takashi, not you."

She started growling. "Yes. She doesn't love me, she never did!"

"Exactly!" Daemon grinned, holding the Crest of Hate near Yolei's body, "You're hurting because of her! You have to stop her, destroy her and end the pain once and for all!"

"Yes," Yolei said, "I have to stop her at once! I'll destroy her!"

Daemon watched as the Crest of Hate in his hand began to glow. He laughed with success.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari sighed as she slowly ran her finger around her water glass. She had hoped that Tk would be accepted by Davis, not to ignore her completely. She was bored out of her mind.

"So?" Davis said, leaning forward, "You never found out why you started to become the Digimon Emperor? I mean, I know about what Etemon's Dark Network did to you, but..?"

Tk shook his head. "No, all I can really remember is feeling this…I can't even describe it, but the only way I could get rid of it was by acting the way I did."

Davis stared at him. "Are you feeling that way now?"

"No. When Kari defeated me, that feeling just disappeared. It was because of her that I stopped being the Digimon Emperor. " He turned to her, "You saved me, you know."

The brown-haired girl started blushing. "Well, I didn't…"

"Stop being so modest," Salamon said from inside of Kari's backpack, "You were great!"

"I'm with her," Davis said, "You've done a lot."

She frowned. "I couldn't beat Kimeramon, you did. And I couldn't do anything against Hiroshi when we fought. If only I could figure out how to use my Holy Lances."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Tk said, "I have a Holy Weapon too, and I don't know how to use it yet either."

Kari sighed. "It's not that easy," she said, "I really don't expect either of you to understand, but I'm Taichi Kamiya, and sometimes its hard to live up to everyone's expectations of you. I'm supposed to be the great hero, but so far I haven't done anything really extraordinary." She sighed as she looked over to Davis, "And then there's you."

"What do you mean?" Tk asked.

Kari sighed again before she continued. "Davis told me that Ryo said he was the real heir to my old powers. He's the one that's suppose to have the Courage powers."

"What?" Tk gasped, "That's absurd!"

"Think about it. He's even got my goggles."

Davis interrupted. "Ryo told me that I was chosen to receive Tai's powers because he was dead. This was before the Guardians realized that Tai had been reborn as Kari."

"Why couldn't the Guardians just reverse it?"

"It wasn't their choice. Ryo just said that it came from, 'higher up.'"

Tk considered this for a moment. "I suppose, but why does Kari still have the courage powers?"

"Because I don't want them," Davis said, "I have the Crest of Miracles, why do I need the powers of Courage?"

Tk looked at Davis, then at Kari. "You know, if he's really supposed to have them, it might not be your choice."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hiya Wormmon, how's it going?" Armadillomon asked.

The green caterpillar bowed. "I'm fine, how are you?"

Ken chuckled slightly as Cody and his partner entered into the older boy's bedroom. "Good evening, Cody."

"Hi Ken," he said, pulling a seat up to the desk so he could see into Ken's computer monitor. "Any luck?"

He shook his head. "No. Even with the legends and folklore concerning the Destiny Stones, I can't seem to find a definite location."

Cody sighed. "This is just great. Dark SEED is going to get too far ahead of us."

Ken continued to click on different areas of the Digital World. He reached an area on the Server Continent, specifically the mountain area. He double clicked on the square and a series of pop-up windows appeared.

"I hate those pop-up advertisements," Cody sighed.

"These are version of the Digimon Analyzer," he explained, "A large amount of spider digimon are present in that area. I think maybe we should investigate…wait!"

"What?"

"There's a mega Digimon…it's Diaboromon!"

"I'm e-mailing the others," Cody said, removing his D-terminal.

After alerting the others, Cody and Ken traveled through the Digital Gate and arrived in the shadows of the dark mountains on the Server Continent. Kari, Tk and Davis, along with their digimon, materialized a second later. The brown-haired girl glanced around. "Where's Yolei?"

"And Catherine and Derek?" Davis asked.

"I don't know," Cody said, "I sent them all e-mails."

"We can't wait forever," Davis said, running through the rocky mountain tops, "If Diaboromon is here, we've got to stop him!"

"Davis!" Veemon shouted, running after him, "Wait up!"

The goggle-wearer ran across the rocks and stone until he reached the edge of a cliff. The others soon joined him and together they stared over the edge at the excavation occurring below. "What's happening down there?" Patamon asked.

"It would appear to be an archeological excavation," Ken said, "But what are they searching for?"

A shrill, sinister voice appeared behind the group of humans and digidestined. "Why don't you just ask?"

They spun around and came face-to-face with a large white spider. "I am Infermon," it explained, "And you are now my prisoners!"

"Don't bet on it!" Davis shouted, shoving his digivice towards his partner. The white light of evolution exploded from the screen and bathed Veemon. "Digivolve!"

"Wait!" Infermon shouted, halting Veemon's evolution.

"What?"

"Maybe you should wait to show your unique talents to Master Diaboromon."

"Where is he?" Davis shouted, spinning his head around. He looked over his shoulder to see the spider mega standing on the mountain ridge. "Oh, I should have followed the stench."

"Do you always embarrass yourself?" the Dark SEED general asked, pointing one of his gauntlet covered hands at him.

"What are you doing here?" Ken asked.

He laughed. "Maybe you should be more concerned with _who's _with me here."

"What are you talking about?" Cody asked.

"Yeah," Kari said, "You're here, aren't you?"

Diaboromon grinned. "Correct, but I have an ally. Observe, to the sky, now!"

The Digidestined threw their heads skyward in an attempt to see Diaboromon's mysterious alley. A large bird soared across the sky, one that caused the hearts of the humans and digimon to fall into their stomachs. "Aquilamon?" the digimon gasped.

The color from Kari's face drained. "No, then that means…"

"On Aquilamon's back!" Salamon gasped, "Look! It's…"

"Yolei," the brown-haired girl said, feeling her heart being shattered, "It can't be."

The purple-haired girl was standing on her partner's back, a sinister and evil grin on her face. Around her neck hung a glowing pendant. She was still wearing her usual Digital World outfit, but a darker and blacker color. "Hello, Kamiya Hikari-san," she said, "How are you?"

"What are you doing here?" Kari demanded, "Yolei…"

"You cannot call me by my given name!" she shouted, "Any connection you had to me has been destroyed by you! I thought you had deep feelings for me, but you didn't, did you? Taichi, why did you turn your back on me, your soul mate, Sora?"

Kari was shocked. "Yolei…"

"I told you not to call me that!" she shouted, "I thought you should me love, but it was a lie, wasn't it? Now, all I have to give to you is hate!" She pointed her finger at the brown-haired girl, "You will fight me, now!"

"I'm going to fight you!" Kari shouted.

Yolei laughed as she jumped off of Aquilamon's back. "Then you will die! Aquillamon, digivolve!"

The giant hawk shot into the sky and began to glow in synch with the Crest of Hate, with its symbol of a heart broken in half, hanging around Yolei's neck.

**Yolei's digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a red hue It fired a beam of light from its screen up to her Crest of Hate The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Aquilamon**

**"Aquilamon digivolve to…"**

**Aquilamon's body was enveloped by a red tornado, twisting and changing his form The tornado exploded, revealing a new humanoid figure, with brown feather legs and white feathered chest Two small white wings grew from his forearms while a visor appeared over his eyes "Silphymon!"**

"He digivolved!" Veemon gasped.

Yolei pointed at Kari. "Now, Silphymon, destroy her!"

The hovering digimon executed a twirling dance, bringing his two palms together to create a glowing ball of light. He fired this attack at the brown-haired girl. "Static Force!"

"Kari, look out!" Salamon shouted, jumping into the air and dive bombing her partner, tackling her to the ground. Silphymon's attack missed, destroying a section of the ground.

"That's it!" Davis shouted, "Fight back! Veemon!"

The blue digimon began spinning around in place, waiting for the familiar explosion of energy. "Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

"Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

Diaboromon watched as Silphymon and Angewomon flew off to engage in their own battle. "Let's let them deal with their own problems," he said.

"Fine!" Exveemon growled, "Let's go!"

Diaboromon chuckled. "Are you so certain you can handle me? Ha!" He moved into an attack position, but did not jump into battle. Instead, he turned his head to the excavation site below as one of the Keramons shouted to him.

"Lord Diaboromon! We have discovered something!"

The mega spider grinned and turned back to the Digidestined. "It appears that I will not be engaging in this battle." He propelled himself onto a ledge closer to the excavation site. "Infermon, destroy them!"

The smaller spider-digimon jumped in front of Exveemon and the other digimon. "As you wish. Spider Shooter!" His mouth opened to reveal a small gun barrel, which he used to fire a barrage of red blasts into Exveemon's body. The blue dragon screamed as his skin was torn from his body. Stingmon and Angemon leapt in to aid him, but Infermon executed a back flip with such speed that the two flying digimon crashed into one another. The spider landed on Ankylomon's back and began pounding him with his eight legs. Stingmon and Angemon recovered themselves and leapt to continue the attack, but Infermon executed his Spider Shooter attack once again, causing them the same pain as Exveemon.

Meanwhile, Angewomon and Silphymon paused momentarily to stare at one another. "Why are you doing this?" the angel woman asked.

"Because Yolei asks it of me!" Silphymon answered.

"But we're friends!" Angewomon protested.

"We _were_!" he answered, spinning his hands around in his hypnotic dance, "Not anymore! Static Force!"

The angel woman quickly shot out of the way, allowing Silphymon's attack to pass her and destroy a small section of the excavation crew below. The Keramons and Chrysalimons fled from the archeological site and scattered to the mountains. "Stop!" Diaboromon shouted, "Get back here, you cowards!" He growled, "Fine, I'll handle this myself." He jumped off of the mountain ledge and landed unharmed on the ground. He ran over to the excavation site and began to remove the dirt and debris that remained in the area before finally revealing a simple metal chest. He grinned and ripped the top off.

Exveemon flung himself at Infermon once again. "XV-kick!" he shouted, slamming his foot into the spider's face, throwing him into the mountain side.

"Yes!" Davis shouted, "You creamed him!"

"Davis," Cody said, "Look."

The goggle wearer stared at the spider digimon and gasped when he saw that Infermon was still unharmed. He jumped into the air and used his leg pounding attack on Angemon's chest. When he was done with the angel digimon, he moved over to Stingmon and Ankylomon. Exveemon jumped over to attack him from behind, but Infermon twirled around quickly, using all of his legs to hit the blue dragon in quick succession. He fell onto the ground with the spider standing above him.

"Now," Infermon said, opening his gun barrel mouth, "Prepare to be deleted!"

"Exveemon!" Davis shouted, "Don't give up! You can do anything! I know you can!" He suddenly became aware of a bright gold light shining from beneath his shirt. "Wha?"

"Your crest!" Tk gasped, "It's glowing!"

Davis reached inside and pulled out his Crest of Miracles, with its symbol of a glowing halo. "Wow." He smiled, "Exveemon!"

**Davis's digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a dark blue hue It fired a beam of light from its screen up to his Crest of Miracles The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twirling Exveemon**

**"Exveemon digivolve to…"**

**A gold light flowed over his body, transforming him into a being wearing metal armor in various areas of his body A dragon man Digimon whose wings fluttered open He spun around, his eyes forming On his hands a set of claws shot out, from each finger and his wrist Two guns shot out from his side, blasting the desert in front of him "Paildramon!" **

"Another Ultimate," Ken said in awe, "Amazing."

If Infermon was worried, he did not show it. Instead, he continued his battle as if his opponent had not altered at all. He first executed his multi-legged attack, which did not do enough damage to Paildramon to throw him back like it had to Exveemon, but it was enough to cause him to hiss in pain. He then used his Spider Shooter attack to throw the blue dinosaur tumbling backwards.

Meanwhile, the battle between Angewomon and Silphymon was still raging in the skies above. Kari could not keep her attention on her digimon's battle, she was too focused on the purple-haired girl standing on the ledge across from her. "Yolei!"

She turned and glared at her. "Do not, I repeat, do NOT call me that! You will refer to me as Miyako Inoe, understand?"

Kari was taken back at this comment. She felt her own heart start to break, but reminded herself that the Crest of Hate was in control of Yolei, it had to be. "Yolei, listen to me!"

"Shut up, shut up!" she screamed, "I'm not listening to anymore of your lies!"

Kari sighed sadly and stared at the ground. "Yolei…"

Angewomon frowned as she dodged another swipe from Silphymon's fist. "You know, I could easily finish you off."

"I highly doubt that," he responded, "You may be powerful for an Ultimate, but I am one too. Astral Laser!" His body suddenly began to illuminate the afternoon sky. He head-butted Angewomon, throwing her into the ground.

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Kari," she responded, slowly crawling back to her feet, "But I'm starting to lose my patients!"

"You can't hurt them," Kari protested, "They're our friends."

Yolei started cackling like an evil witch. "We _were_ your friends," she corrected the brown-haired girl, "Now we're nothing!"

She then ordered her digimon to attack, but her voice was drowned out by a loud roar from above. The battle between Infermon and Paildramon came to a pause as both combatants, as well as everyone else present, turned their heads skyward. Floating above them was a large aircraft that appeared to be a water ship, but with a dozen large propellers attached to its hull. In addition to those propellers, this craft also contained two large airplane-like wings with two sets of cylinders on the end. On the rear of the ship were two more sets of these same cylinders. The entire craft was painted blue and red with the word 'BOREAS" printed on the side.

"What is that?" Ken inquired.

He was given his answer when a dark figure appeared on the deck of this floating ship. "Ahoy!" Ladydevimon called.

Diaboromon's voice suddenly echoed through the mountain. "Inoe, Infermon, hold off your attacks!"

Yolei, Silphymon and Infermon turned to attention to the Dark SEED general, who was bouncing like a frog from cliff to cliff to reach the top of the mountain. "Why?" Yolei demanded.

"The Key Cards are not here," he responded, "We must leave to continue the search."

"As you wish, Master Diaboromon," Infermon responded. He did not acknowledge Paildramon or any of the other digimon as he followed Diaboromon up the mountain in the same manner. Both spider digimon reached the top of the mountain and took a massive leap to land on the deck of the ship.

Silphymon flew up behind Yolei and gently lifted her. The purple-haired girl stared at Kari as she flew higher into the air. "Next time, Mistress Ladydevimon's floating ship will not be able to save you."

Silphymon landed on the deck. The four sets of massive cylinders attached to the ship exploded with fire and force, propelling the vessel across the Digital World.

The Champion digimon returned to the Rookie forms while the Ultimate digimon regressed to their In-training modes. Cody turned to Ken. "What are Key Cards?"

The black-haired boy shook his head. "I don't know. I think I have an idea, but I'm not certain. I'll need more data before I am."

Davis spied Kari and Nyaromon staring up at the sky. He started to walk towards her, but Tk held him back. "Right now, I think she just needs some time alone."

The goggle-wearer stared at him but nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"Kari?" Nyaromon asked.

"What?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

She sighed. "No, I'm not Nyaromon, no, I'm not."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Diaboromon has invaded a Betamon village in the hopes of locating the Destiny Stone of Water. The Digidestined arrive but Catherine is surprised to find Yuehon there. Will she be able to convince her of the true power of the Crest of Deception? _

_Next: "Dark SEED: The Bearer of Sincerity." Being true to yourself is the greatest gift of all. _


	11. Dark SEED: The Bearer of Sincerity

Cody here. Yolei was having a difficult time accepting the fact that Kari and Tk were developing feelings for each other. She was captured by Dark SEED and forced to accept the Crest of Hate. This made her own feelings against Kari that much stronger. She joined with Diaboromon and they were looking for the Digimon Key Cards, whatever they are. During the battle, Exveemon digivolved again to Paildramon, but Diaboromon escaped. Yolei fought against Kari, but Kari wasn't able to get her back before they escaped. Now one of our friends is fighting for Dark SEED.

Dark SEED: The Bearer of Sincerity

A small mountain in the Northern Section of the Digital World was blown apart as a series of red rings tore through it. A large brown bird shot through the debris and soared over the green plains. The purple-haired girl riding on top of the bird sighed in frustration. "Still no sign of those blasted cards!"

"Those Gazimon were helpful," Aquillamon pointed out.

"They probably lied."

"They were too stupid to lie," the bird replied.

"Maybe, but any searching is gonna have to wait. I'm going to be late for school."

"Why are you still going there anyway?" her partner asked.

"Because, I don't want my parents to realize what's happening," she smiled slyly, "Until it's too late, that is."

The duo reached a small television set that was resting on a cliff. Yolei held out her digivice to open the Digital Gate and pull them back to the purple-haired girl's room. Hawkmon sighed as he watched Yolei dress in her school uniform. "Another day of sitting here alone."

"Don't worry," Yolei said, pulling her green top over the white blouse, "Just a few more days, and school will be out. Then we can fully join Lord Hiroshi on his search. I'll see you later."

The bird nodded.

Yolei grabbed her school bag and exited the room.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hey, Kari," Davis said.

The brown-haired girl looked up from her school desk and smiled slightly at the goggle-wearer. "Hi, Davis."

"So, how are you holding up?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not good. It's all my fault!" She sighed, "Just like everything else."

"How is it your fault?" Davis asked.

She stared at him. "Yolei hates _me_ remember?"

"No she doesn't, she just thinks she does! I'm sure that if we can get her back to her real feelings, everything'll be okay."

Kari smiled warmly at him, but then frowned again. Davis spun around and saw that Yolei had entered the classroom. She flashed an evil smile at Kari and Davis before taking her seat. Davis lightly patted Kari on the back before moving over to his seat.

The brown-haired girl sighed again. How could this have happened? Yolei was Sora, she should never hate Kari, who was Tai. However, she did. Probably because Kari messed up and fell in love with Tk. That would not be so bad, except for the fact that Kari was really Tai and Tk was really Matt. Taichi Kamiya had fallen in love with Yamato Ishida, and had turned his back on the one person that he should be in love with, Sora Takenouchi.

No, that was not entirely true, Kari _was_ in love with Yolei, but she was also in love with Tk. A love triangle that was driving her crazy and making her head exploded, and now Yolei was her enemy. What was she going to do?

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

A small village of Betamons was shaken violently as a massive tremor exploded through the small island that it rested on. Every citizen came running out of their homes, trying to locate the source of the fierce vibration. The small frog digimon were stricken with horror as they realized that the earthquakes were not caused by a force of nature, but by a powerful evil. Specifically, a group of spider digimon, all with bar codes on a section of their bodies, who were dropping into the village from a floating ship.

On the deck of this floating vessel, the captain turned to her passenger. "Do you want me to stay and help you?" Ladydevimon asked.

Diaboromon shook his head. "No. The folklore of the sea seems to say that the Destiny Stone of Water is here. We'll just get in, destroy the stone and leave. You'd better keep searching for the Destiny Stone of Light."

She nodded. "Right. Good luck."

The large spider mega nodded and jumped off of the ship's deck to slam in the center of the village. He surveyed the work his soldiers had done; dozens of the city's citizens had been captured in giant webs, spun by his spider army. He walked through the captured city as Infermon crawled over to him. "We have captured the leader of this village, my lord."

"Excellent!"

Infermon lead the dark general through the occupied town until he reached a web up Betamon with a white beard. "So," Diaboromon said, "You are the leader of this village?"

"I am, what of it?"

"Fine, I'll get right down to it. Where is the Destiny Stone of Water?"

"Destiny Stone?" he asked, "What's a Destiny Stone?"

Diaboromon sighed and slammed his fist into the ground. "Do not play dumb with me!" he shouted, "We require only two more stones! Tell me where the Destiny Stone of Water is right now, or be destroyed!"

"I would rather die, then help you destroy the Digital World."

Diaboromon's chest flung open to reveal two sets of gun barrels. "Web Wrecker!" The elder Betamon screamed as his body was torn apart. The Dark SEED General turned to Infermon. "Find that stone!"

"As you wish, my lord."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Mon Dieu!" Catherine gasped, "Yolei iz now part of Dark ZEED?"

Davis nodded. "Yeah. She has the Crest of Hate."

"Ze Crest of Hate? You've got to be kidding!"

"No, I'm not."

The blond girl placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh, poor Kari."

Davis leaned back in his seat and rested the back of his head in his hands. He stared up at the white ceiling above his kitchen table. "Yeah, this really stinks! I've known Yolei for a long time." He tipped onto the chair's back legs and balanced himself. "We've got to think of something to get her back."

Derek thought for a moment. "How would we free her? We've jus' gotta find a way ta knock some sense back inta her head, right?"

Veemon nodded. "Well, yeah."

"I think that it should be in her _heart_ not her head," Floramon said.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Crabmon replied.

Catherine sighed. "I can't believe zat Yolei would be on our enemy's zide." She turned to Derek, "Remember when we were Mimi and Joe? Remember Zora? How kind and considerate zhe always waz?"

"Yeah," Derek nodded, "I also remember her basically following Tai around like a puppy. If Kari did fall in love with Tk, I can kinda see why she's be so upset."

The blond girl nodded again, then sighed. "What's wrong now?" Crabmon asked.

"I alzo remember my Crezt of Zincerity. It was quite a zhock when I first found out about who I use to be." She smiled slightly, "Zat was quite an adjustment. Suddenly, not only waz I able to zpeak Japanese, but I started acting like it alzo."

"Same here," Derek said, "The biggest thing for me was that I use to be kinda stuck up and worried about a lot of things, but now, I'm almost a completely different person."

"But I miss my crest," Catherine said, "I want my crest back!"

"You'll get it back," Floramon said, "Don't worry."

"What about you?" Crabmon asked his partner, "Don't you want your crest?"

Derek grinned. "Tk said that someone he knows now has it, but he can't ever find her. So, I don't really care."

Davis pushed himself forward so the chair was back on all four legs. "But what are supposed to do now

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Hiroshi walked over to the large stain glass window to look at the blue sky. "So, they chose Miyako Inoe?'

Yuehon nodded. "That's right, Lord Hiroshi."

"She really took to it, too," Candlemon grinned.

Hiroshi's Penmon chuckled. "Great! Those Digidestined are going to get killed by..wait, what does Daemon have her doing?"

"Looking for the Key Cards," Yuehon answered.

Hiroshi frowned. "She was supposed to be fighting the Digidestined, but I suppose just by _having_ her with us is enough." He grinned, "I know about the love between Sora Takenouchi and Taichi Kamiya, the love that was suppose to be. I'm sure that this is killing Hikari Kamiya right now." His smile faded.

"Lord Hiroshi?" Yuehon asked.

The Dark SEED leader turned around and stared at Yuehon. "Do you remember when we met each other?"

The Chinese girl nodded. "Yes. I was ten years old and my parents had just been killed."

Hiroshi nodded. "You were brought to my parents' mansion to become one of the servants. Because our ages were so similar, they made you my personal servant. We went through everything together, even getting our digimon partners at the same time. You stood by me when my parents through me out because I had a digimon partner."

Yuehon and Candlemon bowed. "We are, and always shall be your servants, My Lord. But, why may I ask, are you bringing that up?"

Hiroshi turned back to gazing out the window. "Sometimes I forget how much you really mean to me, and how the entire Digital World would pay if anything happened to you."

The Chinese girl shifted uncomfortably. "Thank you."

Hiroshi nodded. "Now, head to the Betamon village and aid Diaboromon. Kamiya and the rest of her brats usually show up every time a Destiny Stone is under attack."

"As you wish, Lord Hiroshi."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei sat on Aquillamon's back as he flew across the same plains that they had tried to search earlier in the morning. The purple-haired girl looked at the sea of green and growled again. "Those stupid Gazimon did lie! I don't see anything that looks like a giant shell!"

"I think they said a turtle shell," the bird clarified.

"Giant shell, turtle shell, the same thing," she growled, "If I ever find them, they're going to be sorry!"

Aquillamon stop short, throwing Yolei's face into his back. "What'd you do that for?" She pushed herself back onto rear and stared forward. Floating in the air before her and Aquillamon was an Airdramon, with a girl with braided hair resting on top. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled. "I am Tatum."

Yolei smirked, "Fine, 'Tatum,' get out of my way, or you'll be sorry."

Tatum stared at the purple-haired girl with a blank expression on her face. "Miyako Inoue, reborn Sora Takenouchi."

Yolei gasped as her eyes shot open. "How did you know that?" Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the medallion hanging around the other girl's neck. "And where did you get that crest?"

"I inherited it after Joe Kido passed on," she explained, "And as to how I know your name, I know many things about you."

"What do you want?" she asked.

"To remind you that you do not belong with Dark SEED, you belong with Hikari Kamiya."

Yolei growled. "_Hikari Kamiya_ turned her back on me, all I have left for her is hate!"

Tatum sighed. "Remember your true power is love, not hate. Do not forget that."

The purple-haired girl was going to protest, but a loud banging noise behind cause her to spin around to investigate. When she turned to face Tatum once again, the braided-haired girl was gone.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk sat in his chair and stared at the white sword that was resting on his desk. Patamon fluttered over to his human partner and looked at the object. "The Holy Sword?"

Tk nodded. "Yeah. Tatum said that I found it and gave it to her, do you remember that?"

The small digimon shook his head. "No. I'm having a lot of trouble lately remembering what happened when I was Tsukaimon."

The blond teenager sighed. "Just great. The Dark SEED leader was able to use his Holy Weapon. I have to figure out how to use this one."

"I'm sure we will," Patamon said.

Tk grabbed the Holy Sword and brought it over to his bed. He knelt down and carefully wrapped the object around in the same white cloth that Tatum gave to him. He placed the wrapped sword into a large safe and locked it tightly. He pushed it back under the bed, making extra sure that the safe was hidden by other boxes.

He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "There's something else bothering you too, isn't there?" Patamon asked.

"Yeah," Tk said, "I'm feeling really guilty about what happened to Yolei." He frowned, "I know what's she going through. I want to help her. Kari was able to save me when she defeated us, but maybe we can help Yolei another way."

There was a knock on the door. "Takeru, honey?"

He quickly sat up as Patamon dove to hide under the bed. "What Mom?"

Miss Takashi poked her head through the door. "The phone is for you."

He jumped off of his bed and walked into the kitchen to grab the phone receiver that was lying on the table. "Hello?"

"Tk, is that you?"

The blond teenager walked into the living room to avoid the questioning gaze of his mother, who was sitting at the kitchen table. "Kari?"

"Yes. Listen, I just got an e-mail from Gennai. He wants you and me to meet him at his house. He and Ryo have something important to tell us."

"What about the others?"

"I asked, but Gennai just said just us, and our digimon of course."

Tk nodded. "Okay, I'll meet you at your house, then we'll go. Okay, see ya." He walked back into the kitchen and placed the phone on the wall. He turned to walk into his room, but when he did he caught the smile on his mother's face. "What?"

"Was that a girl?" Miss Takashi asked.

"Mom!" Tk protested, "Where you listening?"

Miss Takashi laughed slightly. "Was that the same girl that I saw you with in that café a few days ago?"

Tk started to turn red. "I've got to go." He ran into his room, only to emerge a few seconds later with a backpack. He ran to the door and pulled his shoes on. "I'll be back later."

Miss Takashi smiled as she watched her son leave. He reminded her so much of Yamato.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis allowed his eyes to adjust to normal sunlight after the blinding light of the Digital Gate. He, Catherine and Derek had arrived on what appeared to be a beach, with a rolling ocean in front of them. "I don't see Ken or Cody."

"Over here!" Crabmon shouted, pointing a claw down the beach.

The others ran to meet their other members. "All right, Ken," Davis said, "We're here."

The brown-haired teenager nodded. "Yes. Diaboromon is back."

"Where?" Veemon asked.

Wormmon mentioned to an area of the beach that sloped down. A small group of houses and buildings were roasting in a reddish orange haze, sending smoke into the air. "Down there."

Davis ran past the others and stopped right before the slopping hill. He stared with horror at the burning village. "It's…it's gone! The entire village!"

Catherine gasped and placed her hands over her mouth. "Mon Dieu!"

Davis growled and clenched his fists. "Is Diaboromon down there right now?"

Ken nodded. "As far as I…"

The goggle-wearer shoved his digivice towards his digimon partner. The screen started to glow brightly. "Veemon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

" Davis!" Derek shouted, "Wait!"

The goggle-wearer ignored him as he jumped into his partner's arms. "Let's go, now!" The blue Champion digimon jumped into the air and shot towards the burning city.

"What's he doing?" Cody gasped, "He's going to get himself killed! We've got to go after him!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Colemon!"

Down below in the village, a Keramon jumped and hopped through the streets, chasing after an escaping Betamon. The water digimon ran as fast as he could, trying to lose his pursers by jumping through the maze of alleys. It was not any use; the spider-digimon remained behind him. Eventually, the frog-like digimon lost his strength and fell onto the ground. He spun around and stared with horror as the spider-digimon closed in on him. Keramon opened his mouth, ready to attack with his "Bug Blaster," when the Rookie digimon was suddenly attacked by a large blue dragon digimon. The spider was easily overpowered, being destroyed instantly.

The Betamon stared with awe and wonder as more humans and digimon arrived. A human jumped off of the digimon and ran over to him. "I'm Davis Motomiya, are you okay?"

The Betamon nodded. "Yeah, you're Digidestined, aren't you?"

"That's right," he answered, "What's going on here?"

"Some kind of group called Dark SEED is looking for our Destiny Stone of Water."

Davis growled. "Where is the Destiny Stone?" Ken asked.

"I can't tell you. Only our Elder knows where it is, and he's been captured!"

"Then we're going to have to rescue him first," Davis said, "Lead the way."

The Betamon quietly lead them to the heart of the village, which was currently swarming with Keramons, Chrysalimons and a variety of other spider digimon. In the very center was a massive spider web containing the Betamon Elder as well as other Betamon prisoners. "How are we gonna get them out?" Derek asked.

Davis sighed slightly. "There are too many digimon to sneak in, there's no way we won't be seen. I guess we should just fly right through the center."

"What?" Cody protested, "No way!"

"I agree with him," Ken said, "We'll be killed."

Davis shook his head. "We've got no choice! Exveemon?"

The dragon digimon roared and leapt into the center of the spider digimon. He began pounding and tearing through the evil army, but he was soon over powered. "Hey guys! I could use some help here!"

"We'd better help him," Stingmon said. He propelled himself off of the cliff and used his glowing saber to pierce the back of one of the Chrysalimons that was attacking Exveemon. Ankylomon headed some Keramons while Colemon attacked from the water and Kiwimon acted like an archer, firing her bird daggers from a safe distance.

While their digimon kept the army busy, the Digidestined were able to travel to the giant web in the center. "Elder!" the Betamon with the Digidestined shouted.

Elder Betamon weakly looked down at them. "My son, what are you doing here"

"I've brought the Digidestined."

"Don't worry," Davis said, "We'll have you down in no time."

"Oh really?" a shrill, female voice said from behind. When the humans spun around, they saw Yuehon and Mammothmon stomping down the battlefield, with Diaboromon right behind them. "You're going to have to stop us first!"

Davis turned to where his digimon was destroying the last of the spider army. "Exveemon!" Underneath of his shirt, the Crest of Miracles began to glow.

"Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

Diaboromon laughed as he held up his gauntlet hands. "Even if you have a Ultimate, you'll never beat me and my Holy Weapons!"

"You have a Holy Weapon?" Ken gasped.

Diaboromon nodded. "Yes, my Holy Gauntlets! Now, prepare to be destroyed!"

The dragon man digimon flew over to engage Diaboromon in battle, but the spider-mega leapt into the air and tackled Davis's partner to the ground. Stingmon flew over and executed his leg kick attack, but Diaboromon batted him away with simple ease. Colemon leapt out of the ocean and started firing his dart attack. It was able to cause Diaboromon some harm, mostly because Stingmon kept the evil mega distracted long enough.

Catherine stared evil daggers at Yuehon. "I am taking my Crezt back today!" she shouted.

Yuehon grinned as she jumped off of her elephant partner. "You're nothing but a spoiled brat! Mammothmon, destroy them!"

Kiwimon stood firmly in place and began to fire her bird daggers at the woolly mammoth, but Mammothmon kept charging. "Look out!" Ankylomon shouted, pushing the small bird digimon out of harms way. The land digimon used his impressive size and strength to hold back Yuehon's partner.

"Where are Kari and Tk?" Davis shouted, "Oh man, we need help!"

"It's not like you to be pessimistic," Ken said.

"I'm just stating the obvious," he sighed, "Diaboromon has a Holy Weapon! Tk and Kari are the only ones that have them!" He turned back to watching as Paildramon grew a giant blade from each of his hands.

"Prepare to die!" Paildramon shouted, jabbing at Diaboromon with his right blade, then using his left blade to slash across the evil mega's chest. Stingmon shot from behind the dragon ultimate and executed his Spinning Strike to disorient and annoy Diaboromon. The spider mega went to grab one of Stingmon's legs, but the insect was fast enough to shoot out of the way. Paildramon jumped back to attack Diaboromon, slashing his long spikes across his chest. Before Diaboromon could react, Davis's partner slammed one of his spike's into Diaboromon's chest, then executed a flip, causing the injury to dig even deeper. He used his other spike to make three large slash marks across the evil spider's chest before jumping back to a safer distance. "How's that?"

"Great job!" Davis cheered, "I think did it!"

"Hardly!" Diaboromon chuckled, standing up to reveal his full glory, "Do you think that puny little attack is going to hurt me? Ha!"

"Tusk Crusher!" Mammothmon shouted, firing two glowing missiles at Ankylomon and Kiwimon. The land digimon pushed Kiwimon out of harm's way once again before attacking the wooly mammoth with his Tail Hammer attack. The Ultimate elephant batted him away with his large trunk.

Yuehon laughed from her place on the sideline. "Tear them apart, Mammothmon!"

"Zat iz it!" Catherine shouted, charging over to Yuehon, "You have abused ze powers of Sincerity! I am taking it from you, right now!" The French girl tackled the Chinese girl to the ground, while Cody gasped.

"Wow, I never realized about Catherine's temper before."

Ankylomon and Kiwimon kept up their attack on Mammothmon by executing a two-way assault. The bird digimon jumped onto the land digimon's back as he charged at Mammothmon. When they were close enough, Kiwimon leapt into the air while Ankylomon shouted, "Tail Hammer!"

He spun around, knocking his spiked tail into Mammothmon's feet. Kiwimon landed on top of the wooly digimon and began firing her Pummel Peck into his back. He attempted to knock her off with his trunk, but Ankylomon slammed his foot down onto Mammothmon's nose. "Gotcha now!" he grinned.

Yuehon gasped as she saw her partner trapped. Kiwimon may only be a Champion level digimon, but if she kept firing those bird daggers at his back, especially at such close range and without his ability to push her off, it would only be a matter of time before he was defeated. Unfortunately, she could not help him as she and Catherine were rolling around on the ground, trying to overpower one another.

Yuehon was finally able to put her feet underneath of Catherine's stomach and push her off. The French girl stumbled backwards but had to recover quickly as the Chinese girl was not yet finished with her assault. Yuehon removed her black robe, giving her more mobility. She charged at Catherine as if she was going to tackle her again, but at the last second pivoted on her right foot and slammed her left foot into the blond girl's face, throwing her to the ground., The French girl quickly recovered and grabbed Yuehon's foot, making the Chinese girl lose her balance. When she was on the ground once again, Catherine landed on top of her, bringing her knees into the most sensitive area of a woman's chest. Yuehon shouted out loud with small tears forming in her eyes, but did not quite the fight just yet. She punched Catherine in the face, knocking her off top of her. She tried to get up, but the pain was too great.

Catherine stood up and rubbed her sore jaw. She walked over to where the Chinese girl was lying and knelt beside her. "Truly believe me when I zay zat I did not want to hurt you," she looked away, with tears forming in her _own_ eyes, "I hate to hurt ozer people, but you were corrupting ze powerz of sincerity. To truly understand zeir powerz, you must have a pure heart, but you have deceived yourzelf, zat must be why it became ze Crezt of Deception." Catherine gently reached over and removed the Crest of Deception from around Yuehon's neck.

She took a deep breath and placed it around her own neck. Instantly, she could feel a change from the corrupted crest. Looking down, she smiled to herself as the Crest of Deception glowed a bright green and transformed back into the Crest of Sincerity. She looked back down at Yuehon, who had a shocked expression on her face. "You understand?"

The Chinese girl nodded. "Yes, I believe that I do. And maybe you're right, I have been deceiving myself, about a lot of things. Yes, I understand."

Catherine reached a hand down to help Yuehon to her feet, but the Chinese girl batted it way. "Just leave me. Your friends are going to need your help if you hope to defeat Diaboromon."

The French girl spun her head back to the battlefield. Ankylomon and Kiwimon had triumphed over Mammothmon, who had changed back into Candlemon, and was now running to meet his partner. She hesitated, but ran over to join a shocked Cody.

"Come!" she shouted, "We must help ze ozers!" She glanced down to her chest and grinned as she saw the Crest of Sincerity glowing. "Kiwimon!"

**Catherine's Digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to an green hue It fired a beam of light from its screen up to her Crest of Sincerity The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Kiwimon**

**"Kiwimon digivolve to…"**

**The bird digimon jumped into the air, then dove underneath the ground A rainstorm came and flooded the area before the earth absorbed the water The sun shown rays of light down as small green plants began to grow A giant sunflower shot out of the ground Thick green vines exploded from behind the flower, which grew small red buds with mouths that bit into the air A face formed on the flower, and fired two glowing beams into the sky "Blossumon!"**

Diaboromon grinned wickedly as he held Colemon and Stingmon in his gauntlet hands. Paildramon stood off to the side, afraid that if he moved, both of his friends would be dead. "Now," the evil mega grinned, "If you don't want to lose these two, I suggest you stand back."

"I've got no choice," the dragon man said.

"That's right," Diaboromon responded, "You Digidestined can't beat me! Dark SEED is undefeatable!"

"Polinosis Shower!" Blossumon shouted, firing a series of glowing beams from her eyes into Diaboromon's back. The shock caused him to release Stingmon and Colemon. The flower Ultimate and Ankylomon charged over to stand beside the other digimon.

Diaboromon growled. "All right, so you think that you can stop me? Fine!" He held out his spiked gauntlets, "Let's end this!"

"All right!" Davis shouted, "Attack him together!"

Paildramon lead the attack by jabbing Diaboromon with his twin spikes, creating two giant slash marks across the mega's chest. He jumped out of the way, allowing Stingmon to jump into attack.

"Spinning Spiking Strike!" he shouted, slamming his feet into Diaboromon's already injured chest. Ankylomon leapt into action next, bringing his Tail Hammer into the slash marks, ripping the black skin apart. Colemon attacked next.

"Fossil Bite!" he shouted, throwing a group of darts into the hole on Diaboromon's chest. He roared in pain but the Digidestined were not yet finished with their assault. Blossumon fired her Polinosis Shower into the hole stopping the evil mega in his track.

"Great work!" Paildramon shouted, "Now let me finish him off!" He swung around his twin gun barrels and pointed them at Diaboromon's missing chest. "Desperado Blaster!" His glowing bullets tore into the gapping hole, ripping through the other side. The evil mega gave a final scream before his data was scattered.

"Yes!" Davis shouted, "We did it!"

" Davis," Paildramon said, "We may have another problem."

The goggle wearer turned to where his partner was pointing. Diaboromon's two gauntlets remained floating in the air. The two metal gloves glowed for a second before shrinking down to human size and clanging onto the ground. The Digidestined approached with caution. "What's going on?" Derek asked.

Ken cautiously approached to the two gauntlets. "He said they were Holy Weapons. Maybe since he's been destroyed, they need another owner?"

Davis nodded. "Well, I think I'm the best man for the job."

"What?" Cody gasped, "Are you sure?"

He grinned confidently. "Of course." He walked over and lifted up the metal gloves. He did not let the others see, but he took a deep breath and shoved the Holy Gauntlets onto his hands. He breathed with relief. "At least I'm still alive."

"I just realized somethin'," Derek said, "We actually saved a Destiny Stone!"

"Hey, you're right!" Davis cheered, "Hey, maybe we should actually _see _that stone."

The Betamon came crawling back to the center of town. "You guys did it!" one of the Betamon shouted.

Another Betamon bowed. "Please follow me, the Elder would like to talk to you."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Gennai smiled warmly as the two teenagers entered his house. "Come in, come in. Make yourselves at home."

Kari and Tk nodded as they walked into the living room. They sat down on the couch with their digimon partners resting on their laps. Ryo was already in the room, and nodded to them as they entered. "How are you two holding up?" he asked, "I can only imagine what it's like to have all of these memories you didn't know you had coming into your mind."

Tk shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess."

"Yeah," Kari lied, "I'm fine too."

Gennai entered the room a second later, carrying a tray of food and tea. He placed it on the table. "Please, help yourself."

"Thanks!" Salamon and Patamon exclaimed, diving for the food. Kari laughed slightly while Tk turned to Ryo and Gennai.

"So, why did you want to talk to us?"

"Well," the old man said, "We think that both of you have adjusted enough to your past lives that it's time to tell you some things that you may not remember."

"Like what?" Kari asked.

Gennai turned to Ryo. The younger man stepped forward. "Well, as you probably know, I'm from Earth. I came to the Digital World a few years before you did. I was the leader of a small group and our mission was to fight against a powerful digimon named Milleniumon. We destroyed him, but everyone else went back home, except for me. I wandered around the Digital World for a few years before a group of digimon approached me and wanted to know if I would help them. They told me that if I did, they would find a way to send me back home." He sighed with regret, "They were the Dark Masters."

"What?" Kari gasped, "The Dark Masters?"

Ryo nodded with shame and regret in his eyes. "Yeah. I didn't know what else to do. They convinced me that they just wanted to help the Digital World. It really seemed like that when Myotismon entered Earth. We were very worried about what might happen if others crossed through the barrier. So, when you were on Earth, fighting against Myotismon, The Dark Masters and I joined with Gennai."

"What?" Tk asked.

"Yes," he continued, "Even Piedmon was afraid of what might happen if the barrier between worlds was weakened enough. So we used the power of the Destiny Stones of the Elements to create a barrier to protect the Digital World. This way no one would be able to use a Digital Gate except with a digivice."

Gennai sighed. "In order to make that seal, I had to give them a lot of information about the fabric of the digital plane. The Dark Masters used that information to warp the Digital World into Spiral Mountain."

"I realized what they were doing," Ryo said, moving so he could sit down on the couch, "I left them, and joined with Gennai's Guardians. After you died fighting Apocalymon, I was the one that took your crests to guard them until new Digidestined were formed. Both of us had no idea that you would be reborn _as_ the new Digidestineds. I took the Crest of Knowledge as my own, figuring that if I was going to be a Guardian of the Digital World, then I should know a lot about it."

"What about Tatum?" Tk asked.

"Tatum?" Ryo asked, looking at Gennai, "Who's Tatum?"

"You don't know who Tatum is?" Patamon asked, "She's wearing the same robe that you guys do."

"A Guardian's robe?" Gennai asked, "But, Ryo and I are the last two Guardians. The rest were killed by the Dark Masters."

Tk was in shock. "I thought that…Well, Tatum has the Crest of Reliability, and she knew a lot about the other crests and the Holy Weapons."

Ryo and Gennai stared at one another. "The Crest of Reliability," Ryo said slowly, "Was stolen from me a few years ago by a girl and a dinosaur digimon."

"Stolen?" Tk gasped, "Tatum…is a thief? But, she told me that….that I know her, but just can't remember. She even gave me the Holy Sword."

"I don't know how she got that sword," Ryo said, "But I would be careful around her, very careful."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Kari said, "But, what about that seal with the Destiny Stones?"

"Well, there are more then just the Element Stones," Gennai explained, "There are many more, but the eyes of darkness are everywhere, so you'll forgive me if I don't tell you where the others are."

"How many?" Salamon asked, curiously.

Gennai stood up and began to pace the room. "The Digital World is kept in balance by four quadrants, the four directions of any map: North, South, East and West. Each one of these quadrants has their own guardian beast, Azulongmon the dragon to the East, Ebonwumon the turtle to the Noth, Zhuqioamon the phoenix to the South, and Baihumon the tiger to the West. Each one of these Holy Beasts adds their own special balance to the Digital World. Zhuqioamon keeps the sky in balance while Ebonwumon holds the sea, Baihumon keeps the Digital World's ground in check and Azulongmon watches over the very digimon themselves. So, there is a 'Control' Destiny Stone for each one. The other Destiny Stones I believe you know: Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Miracles and Spirit. Now, each Destiny Stone goes with a "Control" Stone. For Azulongmon's Control Stone: Courage, Friendship, and the Element Stone, Light."

Kari nodded. "Okay, I think I get it."

"But don't worry about those just yet. From what we've observed with Dark SEED's attack patterns, they seem to only know about the Element Stones." He frowned. "We think that Hiroshi is trying to find a way to break that seal. That's most likely, with his recent attempts to get the Key Cards. If we only knew where he was trying to go."

"And what are the Key Cards?" Tk asked.

"I'm surprised you don't remember," Gennai continued, "The Key Cards were used by Myotismon to enter Earth. Depending on the location of the ten cards in nine different slots, nine cards on the diagram, one left out, you can enter whatever world you want."

"So Hiroshi can go to a world where he can get, let's say, unlimited power?" Kari asked.

Gennai nodded. "Yes."

Kari turned to Tk. "We've got to stop him."

"Yeah, but he's been beating us so far."

"We can't stop now!" Kari almost shouted, "Quick, where are those Key Cards?"

"We don't know," Ryo frowned, "They were lost when Myotismon's castle was destroyed."

Kari felt her hopes began to drop. "Great."

"But we're looking," Gennai said, "Don't worry, everything's going to work out just fine."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Betamon lead the Digidestined away from the village and into a cave resting near the water line. Inside, the other Betamon and the Elder Betamon were standing around a giant glowing blue stone. "The Destiny Stone of Water," Ken said.

"Yes," Elder Betamon nodded, "Eons ago, our ancestors were charged by the great sea god, Ebonwumon with protecting and guarding this stone. It has always given us bounty and blessed our lives near the sea. I would have greatly feared what might have happened if it was destroyed."

"Well you're about to find out!"

They spun to the entrance and saw Infermon bouncing inside. "Forgot about me! Spider Shooter!"

Davis twirled to his partner. "Paildramon, you've got to attack, quick!"

"No time!" he shouted, tackling Davis to the ground seconds before Infermon's attack shot over their heads. His glowing balls of energy crashed into the Destiny Stone of Water, splintering it into rubble. With simple ease, Infermon leapt over the heads of the Digidestined and cowering Betamon and grabbed the medium sized stone from the center of the Destiny Stone.

"Farewell!" he laughed, jumping back to the entrance of the cave.

"Hold it!" Paildramon shouted, "I'm not through with you yet! Desperado Blaster!" The attack slammed into the spider-ultimate, deleting him in a spasm of light and energy. The heart of the Destiny Stone flung through the air before being caught by the Chinese girl.

"Yuehon!" Catherine gasped.

She gave a final nod of her head before disappearing around the cave's entrance. Paildramon and Stingmon quickly flew outside, but she was gone.

"Just great!" Davis growled, "We almost did it, we almost saved one."

"Now's there's only one left," Ken sighed, "We can't let Dark SEED get to it."

Floramon turned to her partner and saw a depressed look on her face. "Catherine?"

"I t'ought I had gotten t'rough to her," she sighed," I guess not."

"Don't feel bad," Floramon said, lighting patting the blond girl's back, "Maybe you can still help her."

"Oui, maybe."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Kari has been feeling depressed and guilty lately. She feels that it is her fault that Yolei was taken by Dark SEED, and is worried about losing her importance to __Davis__. She attempts to force her Holy Weapon to work, but this results in a horrific creation. _

_Next:" Dark SEED: The Mistakes of the Past:" Those who forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. _

Author's note: For the purpose of this story, some of the Digimon storylines had to be changed.

There is more to Ryo's story, especially his connection to Tai and Matt.

I have made a change to Chapter 7: Masters of Darkness. Not anything too major, but if you want to re-read it, it might be a good idea.


	12. Dark SEED: The Mistakes of the Past

This is Derek. Kari and Tk were approached by Ryo and told his story, the Destiny Stones of the Elements make up a seal to protect the Digital World. Not only that, Ryo use to work for the Dark Masters. Meanwhile, Diaboromon lead an attack on the Destiny Stone of Water. Catherine fought against Yuehon, in a duel, finally getting her Crest of Sincerity back. With that crest, Kiwimon was able to digivolve to Blossumon. With her and Paildramon, we were able to destroy Diaboromon. Davis took the evil mega's Holy Weapon, the Gauntlets, but Infermon was able to destroy the Destiny Stone of Water. Now there's only one left!

Dark SEED: The Mistakes of the Past

The Boreas, hovered over a small village, as its captain grinned wickedly. She was greatly enjoying how her army was interrogating the pathetic In-training digimon residents.

"Mistress Ladydevimon?"

She turned around to address the female digimon covered in armor. "Our forces have begun to over power the Digimon below," she said, "I estimate another few hours and the entire village will be ours."

The evil witch grinned, as she turned back to watching her army over run the city below. "Excellent, Jet Silphymon."

She walked up beside her. "If I may ask a question?"

"What is it?"

"Why are we attacking a village of defenseless digimon? These Salamons, Patamons, and others are hardly a threat at all."

The devil woman frowned. "Yes, you want a challenge? Well, legends say that this town holds the Destiny Stone of Light."

"The last stone?"

"Yes. We must find it."

Jet Silphymon bowed. "As you wish, my lady. We will tear this village apart and find that Stone, no matter what."

An Alruamon ran onto the deck. "Ladydevimon," she bowed, "We are receiving a transmission from Dark SEED headquarters."

"I will take it in my room," she said, walking into the hull of the ship and into the captain's quarters. She sat down in her chair and faced the computer monitor before her, which displayed the face of Yuehon.

"Ladydevimon," the Chinese girl said, "Yolei Inoue reports that Kamiya has begun to doubt herself. She feels that Motomiya is taking her place in destiny. She is depressed and concerned about herself. She will be an easy target. Lord Hiroshi demands that you send one of your warriors to attack her."

The devil woman nodded. "It shall be done."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The students were cheering loudly as they ran down the halls. Everyone was throwing their books into the air, knocking into the ceiling lamps. One even threatened to knock lose. The celebrating children did not notice the dangerously swinging source of light. One trouble making boy did. He stood at the end of the hall and aimed his book at the swinging lamp. He took a deep breath and threw the book. It hit the lamp perfectly, knocking the illumination device into the ground. Luckily, ground zero was empty, allowing the lamp to shatter harmlessly. The other students roared with laughter.

Kari looked over her shoulder and sighed. "What's the matter Kamiya?" she heard someone shout. It was a popular girl named Amiko.

The brown-haired girl sighed. "Nothing."

"Then what's the problem?" Amiko asked, lightly slapping Kari on the back, "Lighten up! It's the last day of school! Come on, let's go party!"

Kari smiled. "Thanks, but I've got plans."

Amiko shrugged. "Suit yourself." She ran over to talk to her friends. Kari sighed and went back to pulling her clothes out of the locker. She shoved them into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She walked past the smashed light and headed for the door, but stopped when she saw a figure staring at her.

"Yolei?"

The purple-haired girl glared at her. "Hello, Kamiya."

Kari sighed. "I don't suppose that there's anything that I can say that will turn you back into my friend, is there?"

Yolei grinned wickedly. "No, but there's something that I want to tell you."

Kari was in surprise. "What?"

"Oh nothing, just that I've learned from Lord Hiroshi that you're a mistake."

"What?"

"Let me explain. You may have been Tai Kamiya, but the Guardians of the Digital World chose Davis to be the heir to your powers. Think about it, Davis acts exactly like Tai, you don't. He beat Kimeramon and Diaboromon, you didn't. Lord Hiroshi says that it's only a matter of time before Motomiya figures out how to use his Holy Gauntlets. He's more of a hero then you are."

Kari protested by shaking her head. "No.."

"Think about it," Yolei grinned. She turned and began to leave the school.

"Wait!" Kari called, "That can't be the only reason you want to talk."

"Maybe, maybe not. You're in no position now to do any serious talking anyway. Goodbye." Yolei walked out of the school, leaving a distraught Kari staring after her.

"Hey, Kari!" Davis shouted, running up to her, "What's the matter?"

"I..I was just talking to Yolei," she said, "and….and…"

"What, what did she say?" Davis demanded.

The brown haired girl shook her head. "N..nothing."

Davis sighed. "Well, don't worry, we'll get to get her back. I'll do everything in my power to save her. I promise."

Kari stared at him. He sounded just like she use to when she was Tai. "I've got to go."

"Wait, what about Yolei?"

Kari did not answer.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk smiled to himself as his armored digimon, Ponchomon, continued to destroy the Control Spires that littered the grassy field in front of him. The poncho and sombrero wearing digimon slammed his boxing glove-clad fist into the tower. "Tequila Knuckle!" A large crack formed across the obelisk. He executed the same attack a second time, finishing the crack across the tower. It fell onto the ground with a loud bang.

"Great," Tk smiled. "We're actually doing it. We're fixing our mistake, this feels so great!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Ponchomon grinned, walking over to stand next to him. His smile suddenly faded.

"What's wrong?" Tk asked.

"Someone's coming! Above!"

Tk shot his head to the sky and saw a familiar serpent with wings slowly descending towards him. He stared with slight anger as a familiar teenage girl with braided jumped off of the flying serpent and onto the ground. "Hello Tatum."

She instantly noticed the tone in his voice. "What is the matter?"

Tk sighed. "I had a little chat with Ryo and Gennai the other day."

She waited for him to continue. "And?"

"They told me about how the Crest of Reliability was stolen by a girl." He lowered his eyes and stared at her, "Do you want to tell me who you really are?"

"I already told you my name," she explained, "As for the Crest of Reliability…it was necessary."

"Necessary?" Tk gasped, "You _stole_ it!"

Tatum sighed. "I can't explain my actions to you just yet."

Tk huffed and turned away. "I trusted you."

"And I have done nothing but help you," she protested. She reached into her robes and pulled out a manila folder. "Here."

Tk took the folder and stared at it. "What is it?"

"Information I lifted from Dark SEED," she explained, "I hope it helps you." She jumped back onto her Airdramon. "Just remember, I have, and always will, aid you in your quest. Farewell." Airdramon floated back into the sky and vanished over the horizon.

"Well?" Ponchomon asked, "What does it say?"

Tk opened the folder and stared at the first page inside. "What!" he gasped.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Well," Davis sighed, sitting back in his seat, "This is really one happen' party."

Veemon curiously looked at his partner. "Are you being serious?"

The goggle-wearer stared at him. "I've got to teach you about sarcasm."

"Oh," the blue dragon responded, then glance at Davis's apartment, where all of the Digidestined except for Yolei, Kari and Tk, were resting on the furniture. Derek and Crabmon were watching television, while Catherine and Floramon were chatting to themselves. Cody, Armadillomon, Ken and Wormmon were surrounding Ken's new laptop.

"Since when do you have a laptop?" Davis asked.

"My parents just bought it for me. I spent all last night transferring the files from my p.c. to my laptop. "

"So what exactly are you doing over there?"

"I'm completing my upgrade of the Digimon Analyzer. If I did this correctly, we shouldn't need to rely on using the digivices as an intermediary. Instead of one of us seeing a digimon, and then having to hook up the digivice to the computer, the wireless connection on my laptop should record the digimon's data and pull up its profile."

"That's pretty cool," Veemon said.

Ken shrugged slightly. "Well…"

"No, he's right," Cody said, "You're very computer literate. I never would have been able to do anything like this."

"Zay," Catherine said, "Where iz Kari?"

"I invited her," Davis sighed, leaning back in his seat, "But I guess she wanted to spend some time alone."

"Ya' know," Derek said, "I don't think she should be by herself right now. She's really depressed. I'm afraid of what she might do."

"I think he's right," Floramon said.

"All right, all right," Davis sat up in his seat, "I'll head over there."

"Maybe I should," Ken said, "We were best friends in our past lives."

Cody glanced at his watch. "I need to be going too."

"What?" Davis shouted, "It's only nine o'clock!"

"I promised my mother," he said, "Come on, Armadillomon."

"I'm right behind ya, buddy," he said, walking out of the apartment. Ken closed up his laptop and placed it in his bag.

"I'll see you guys later."

Davis looked at the two other teenagers in the room. "Well, anybody want to play "Spin the Bottle?"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei placed a palm over her eyes as she rode Aquillamon across the Digital World. "I still don't see it!"

She turned around to look at the land from the other side of her partner. "It's not here!"

"You've got to calm down, Yolei," Aquillamon said, "There's no use getting angry."

The purple-haired took a deep breath. "This is so frustrating. We've been all over the place looking for that stupid mountain, and we can't find it anywhere!" Her eyes focused on a small group of houses below. "Set down in that village."

The large bird dropped into the center of the town, causing the citizens to stare in horror and awe at the invader. Yolei grinned as she jumped into the ground. "Ah, Gizamon, huh?"

"You are part of the Digidestined?" one of the Gizamon asked.

"I am part of Dark SEED," she responded, "Now, I am looking for a mountain in the shape of the turtle shell. Can you help me?"

"Why?" another Gizamon asked, "Are you looking for the Floramon village?"

"Floramon village," Yolei grinned, "Now we're getting somewhere. Where's this Floramon Village?"

The Gizamon looked at each other, then back at the purple-haired girl. "Why are you looking for the Floramon village?"

"They have something that I want," she said, "now, where is it?"

The Gizamon were silent.

Yolei sighed and jumped back onto her digimon partner. "If you want to be that way, fine. Aquillamon…"

The large desert bird soared away from the village and then spun around to resume his attack. He opened his beak and fired a series of glowing red circles into one of the homes, blowing it apart. The Gizamon scrambled as Aquillamon smashed through another building, destroying it instantly.

"Okay, okay!" one of the Gizamon shouted, "I'll tell you what you want to know."

Aquillamon lowered himself close enough to the ground for Yolei to rest on her knee and stare over. "Well?"

"Over the mountain, on a small island in the sea, a mountain in the shape of a giant turtle."

The purple-haired girl grinned. "Great. Let's go Aquillamon."

Once she and her partner had left the airspace of their village, the Gizamon stared at one another. "The Key Cards," one said, "If Dark SEED finds them, who knows what kind of damage they could do."

"We must inform the Guardians," another one said, "I will tell Genai."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis yawned to himself as he stared at the television set. "Why the heck are we watching this stupid movie anyway?"

"Zere iz not'ing else to watch," Catherine sighed, "And believe me, we tried."

"Don't you have any videos?" Derek asked.

The goggle wearer sighed. "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't have any money. Maybe I should think about getting a job…."

"Shut up!" Catherine glared, "I'm trying to watch ziz!"

Davis frowned and leaned back in the couch to continue watching the corny romantic movie. He almost cheered when he heard the familiar sound of his D-terminal. He flipped open the lid and scanned his e-mail. "It's from Gennai," he sighed, "Yolei just attacked a village, looking for the Key Cards. He said that she's heading right towards them, we'd better get there first."

Catherine sighed as she turned off the television. "Are you going to tell Kari?"

Davis thought for a second. "Ken's heading over there. If he thinks she can handle it, then he'll tell her, otherwise, I think we can handle it."

"_Les Trois Musketeers_," Catherine grinned, "Come, let'z go."

After sending Ken the e-mail, Davis used the computer in his room to take them to the Gizamon village. The small aquatic digimon nervously approached them. "Who are you?"

"We're the Digidestined," Davis said. The Gizamon still were not convinced, "Don't worry, we're here to help. Gennai sent us."

"All right, I guess, " the apparent leader of the group said, "The digidestined from Dark SEED are heading towards Turtle Island, in the southern seas. A giant mountain in the shape of a Turtle Shell. There's a village near the base, the Key Cards that Dark SEED is after is there."

"How'd they get there?" Crabmon asked.

"After the fall of Myotismon's castle, the Server division of the rebellion sifted through the remains and took those Cards. We decided to hide them in a place where, we hoped, they would be safe from the powers of darkness." He walked over and stared up at Davis's face. "You must find those Cards before Dark SEED does!"

Davis nodded. "Don't worry, we will."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari sighed to herself as she lazily laid on the couch, staring at the television set. She was growing tired of this corny romantic comedy; she had no idea why she even started watching it in the first place. She rose up and began to walk to the kitchen. As she did, she passed a series of photographs on the wall, of her and Yolei. She then remembered why she had started watching that movie.

Salamon saw how depressed Kari had become as soon as she began staring at the pictures. "Kari..?"

"I'm sorry, Salamon," she said, "I must be getting so moody around you, huh?"

"You humans are strange," she said, "But you're my friend, so I know something is really wrong, and it's not just about Yolei."

Kari sighed again. "Yeah. I mean, I'm Tai Kamiya, yet it's like Davis is really taking my place. He's the one that beat Kimeramon, he's the one that destroyed Diaboromon." She walked over and fell onto the couch, "He's the hero now, not me. He's even got a Holy Weapon now."

Salamon ran over and placed a paw on Kari's shoulder, "But he doesn't know how to use it yet."

Kari stared at her partner. "Yeah, so…"

"So we've got to figure out how to use yours!" she grinned, "Come on, get it out of your closet and we'll practice on the roof!"

Kari was going to protest, but the expression on her partner's face was too strong. "All right," she smiled, "Come on."

After retrieving the Holy Lance from her closet, Kari led Salamon to the roof of her apartment building. Kari stared out at the summer night and held her Holy Lance out in front of her. "Now, what exactly should I do?"

Salamon's smile quickly faded into a snarl. "What's wrong?" Kari gasped.

"A Digimon's here!" the small creature gasped, "I can hear..behind us!"

The duo spun around and saw a fox woman standing on the air conditioner duct. She had blue fur growing across her body and was wearing white clothing. "Greetings, Hikari Kamiya and Salamon," she said, "I am Doumon, an Ultimate digimon. I am an emissary from Ladydevimon."

"Ladydevimon?" Kari gasped.

"Correct," the fox-woman replied, "and I have orders to bring you before Lord Hiroshi."

"You'll never even touch her!" Salamon shouted, charging towards the invader, "Kari!"

The brown-haired girl trusted out her digivice. "Go!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon! Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

Kari's digimon began her attack by firing the Celestial Arrow at the fox woman. Doumon counterattacked by blocking the arrow with a giant paintbrush. "What was that?" Angewomon asked.

"This is my weapon of choice," Doumon explained, "If you want to experience what it can truly accomplish, simply wait!" She slashed her paintbrush down in a series of strokes, creating what appeared to be a circular lattice. "Observe, Demon Gate Escape!"

The lattice opened and a black slime emerged from the circle and encased Angewomon. She screamed out in pain before the blackness receded. Doumon smiled, "Impressive, isn't it?"

"It doesn't matter what you have, I'm still going to defeat you," Angewomon said. She brought her hands together in front of her and pointed them at the fox woman. She quickly flung them apart, sending a wave of white light towards Doumon. "Heaven's Charm!"

The fox woman chuckled as she used her paintbrush to propel herself into the air so she was hovering above the angel woman. She pulled her hands under her robe and fired a stream of rectangular paper. "Spell Prohibition Paper!" Each one of the magical charms attached themselves to the angel's body, sending a wave of fierce electricity through her.

"Angewomon, no!" Kari shouted.

Doumon apparently had control over her spells, because with a wave of her hand, she brought the limp Angewomon over to her. "Well, you're not as powerful as you pretend to be, are you?" she laughed.

On the rooftop, Kari screamed. "No! Angewomon!" She looked down at the Holy Lance in her hands, "If I could just figure out how to use this!" She started shaking as she griped the weapon tightly. "This is my fault, if I was a better Digidestined, I could use this stupid weapon to save Angewomon, and now my partner's going to be deleted. I can't save Yolei, Davis is taking my place, I just want to…" She screamed, holding the Holy Lance into the sky. It began to glow a dark yellow light. A beam emerged from one end and merged with Kari. A beam shot out from the other end and merged with Angewomon. Doumon stared in shock as her magical charms suddenly caught fire and vanished in a blast of smoke and light. Angewomon's glowing body was pulled towards Kari's glowing body and the two met in a blast of yellow light. When the bright glow faded, a new, single being, hovered in the sky.

The new figure resembled a teenage girl, with an extremely pale complexion and flowing white hair. She wore black dress with elegant designs and jewelry embroidered into it. Around her neck she wore a large black jewel and in her hands she carried the Holy Lance. She stared around with pale, death-filled eyes.

Doumon stared at her. "What..what happened?" she asked.

The new figure slowly turned to stare at her. Once she did, she screamed an eerie, lifeless shriek and propelled herself towards the fox woman. Doumon attempted to jump out of the way, but the new figure slammed the Holy Lance through Doumon's chest, creating a gapping hole. The fox woman screamed as she was deleted.

The new figure was not done yet. It shrieked again and began firing black bolts of darkness into buildings.

Tk stood on the roof of his own building, staring up at the night sky. Patamon glanced at the expression on his partner's face as he rested on the blond boy's shoulder. "You're still wondering if you should go over there, aren't you?"

Tk nodded. "Yeah. But if that information that Tatum gave us was true, then it means that Dark SEED's been around a lot longer then we thought. Kari needs to know, but…we haven't really talked about what happened when we kissed. She's really Tai Kamiya and I'm really Matt Ishida. My mind keeps telling me that what happened was wrong, but…but my heart is saying that it's right. Oh man, what am I going to do?"

The two parents had to cover their eyes as a blast of orange light filled the sky. "What was that?" Tk shouted.

"A digimon's data," Patamon gasped, "Being deleted."

Tk glanced at his partner. "How do you know that?"

"I could feel it," he said, "We'd better hurry."

Patamon quickly digivolved to Angemon and lifted Tk into his arms and soared over the buildings. They soon saw the horrendous sight of the digimon that killed Doumon. "What in heaven's name is that?" Tk shouted.

Angemon grimaced. "I think you might be coming from the wrong direction."

Tk stared up at the creature's face. He could not quite place where, but he was sure he had seen her somewhere before.

"Tk! Angemon!"

He glanced downward and saw Ken and Wormmon on a building roof, waving to them. Angemon descended to the building top and Tk jumped next to the computer expert. "What is that?"

Ken pointed the back of his laptop at the hovering woman digimon. "I'll have your answer in a second. My Digimon Analyzer should be up in any second." The screen of his smaller computer flashed for a few seconds before an image appeared on the screen. "Here we go. Persephamon, Virus Type, Ultimate Level. The Queen of the Underworld, created when a virus corrupted…" He stopped.

"Who?" Tk asked.

"When a virus corrupted Angewomon."

"Oh no!" Angemon gasped, "You don't think that…?"

"A Fallen Angel?" Tk asked, "Oh, she's hideous!"

From his perch on Ken's shoulder, Wormmon stared at the picture on the laptop screen, then up at the Persephamon that was destroying the television dishes that were on the building roofs. "She looks different then her picture."

Ken looked at the image. The black dress was the same, as was the hair, but the body of Persephamon on the screen was a black skeleton. "Yeah, why does that one have skin? I mean, it looks like a teenage girl. And this description doesn't say anything about a weapon, yet that Persephamon in the sky is using a lance."

The four males gasped loudly. "That's Kari too?"

"Remember Hiroshi?" Wormmon asked, "He merged with his digimon."

Tk stared in awe. "That's what a Holy Weapon does?"

"There must have been some mistake!" Ken said, "I don't think she was supposed to change into that!"

"Alright," Tk said, "If that's Kari, then we've got to help her. We can't hurt her though."

"Don't worry," Angemon said, "We won't." He jumped into the air and flew towards Persephamon.

"You'd better help, Wormmon," Ken said, grabbing his digivice.

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

The two digimon flew up to intercept the rampaging Persephamon. The Fallen Angel spied the two Champions out of the corner of her eye. She pointed her Holy Lance at them and called out her attack in an emotionless voice. "Curse of the Underworld."

A cloud of gray smoke shot from the lance and enveloped Angemon and Stingmon. A transparent image of their bodies appeared behind them, and were struck by two blasts of dark lightning. The two Champion digimon screamed out in pain. "Oh man!" Tk gasped, "I never heard Angemon scream like that. What an attack!"

Persephamon's attack left the two Champion digimon stunned and motionless, but still hovering in the sky. The Fallen Angel digimon suddenly displayed a impressive amount of speed and shot over to the two digimon. She began to mercilessly pound Stingmon with her Holy Lance. "Stingmon!" Ken shouted, "Fight back!"

"Don't!" Tk shouted, "That's still Kari!"

"Our digimon are going to get deleted!" Ken protested, "We have to!"

Tk hesitated, but quickly changed his mind as he watched Persephamon attack Angemon by swinging her Lance across his chest again and again. "Kari," he said to himself, "Please forgive me and know that I'm doing this to help you." He took a deep breath, his Crest of Friendship glowing brightly under his shirt, "Angemon!"

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

"I really don't want to hurt you," the Ultimate angel said, pointing his glowing sword at Persephamon, "But you leave me no choice." He shot forward and slashed his saber at the Fallen Angel, but she caught it with her lance. She stared directly at Magna Angemon and spoke once again in her emotionless, eerie voice, "Windows of the Soul!" Her eyes exploded with two white blasts that sent Magna Angemon into a tailspin. When he had recovered himself, it was not within enough time to block Persephamon's next attack. Luckily, Stingmon came to his rescue by knocking into Persephamon's back. She spun around and glared at him.

"Angewomon, Kari," Stingmon pleaded, "You've got to remember who you are. Don't you recognize your friends?"

She answered him by smashing the side of his head with her Holy Lance, and then turned around to finish Magna Angemon. However, by this time the angel was ready to execute a counter strike. "Excalibur!" he shouted, firing a beam of light from his sword that struck Persephamon in the chest. He shot over to her and executed his Excalibur attack again. She responded by shrieking, sending powerful sound waves that threw Magna Angemon and Stingmon into another building roof. Persephamon shot down to attack them while they were injured, but she suddenly stopped. Her body glowed brightly.

"What's going on?" Tk shouted.

"I think she lost her energy," Ken said, "She's turning back!"

The light faded to reveal and unconscious Nyaromon and Kari, still gripping the Holy Lance tightly. They began to fall towards the ground, but Magna Angemon jumped up to catch them. He did not get the chance, however, as a wave of darkness pushed him aside and caught Kari and Nyaromon. He stared in confusion as this black wave carried the two unconscious girls back into the air, over to where a hovering female was grinning sinisterly.

"Ladydevimon?" Ken and Tk gasped.

The devil woman was soon joined by Yolei and Aquillamon. Ladydevimon's wave of bats gently placed Kari and Nyaromon on the giant bird's back. "Come," the devil said, "We must get back to the _Boreas_."

Aquillamon flew over to a building roof, where a laptop screen was flashing brightly. Yolei held out her digivice, opening the gate. "Yolei, don't!" Magna Angemon shouted, but it was too late, they had disappeared into the Digital World.

Ken and Tk stared in horror at the sky. "What just happened?" Tk shouted.

"They took Kari," Ken said slowly.

Tk hesitated for a few minutes, then took a deep breath. "Okay, where's Davis?"

"He, Derek and Catherine went into the Digital World to search for the Key Cards. I was supposed to get Kari and go join them, but…"

Tk nodded. "Okay, e-mail him and tell him to keep searching for those cards. We can't afford to let Dark SEED get their hands on them."

"R..right," Ken said, opening the inbox on his laptop.

"Where's Cody?"

"He should be at home…"

"Fine. Call him and tell him to pack whatever he needs: food, clothes, sleeping bags. We're going to have to pack ourselves."

"Why? Where are we going?"

"The three of us are going to get Kari back."

Ken stared at him. "You're planning on being gone awhile?"

He shrugged. "I don't know how long it's going to take. We might be in the Digital World for a while."

"Then we're going to have to tell our parents," Ken sighed.

Tk nodded. "Yeah, I know." He took a deep breath, "I'll tell Kari's parents, if you tell the others."

Ken nodded. "Sure."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Mrs. Hida frowned as she entered her son's room. "Cody, I thought I told you to go to bed?"

Cody turned away from his desktop computer and faced her. Mrs. Hida could immediately tell something was wrong by the look on her son's face. "Cody, what is it?"

"There's something I need to show you," he said. He turned to his bed, "Armadillomon, you can come out now."

Mrs. Hida almost fainted when she saw the yellow digimon emerge from underneath of her son's bed. "Hi."

She stumbled backwards, but found a chair to sit in. "Cody," she gasped, "What…what…?"

Cody went and stood by Armadillomon. "Mom, this is Armadillomon, he is my digimon partner, and my friend."

"Please ta' meetcha!" the ground digimon waved.

Mrs. Hida stared at her son. "You mean, you're one of those…those…"

"Digidestined, Mom," he said, "And yes, I have been one for a few months now. We've been fighting to save the Digital World and this world from destruction." He sighed deeply, "But now, one of our group has been captured by the bad digimon that we're fighting. I need to go into the Digital World to save her, but I don't know how long I'll be gone."

Mrs. Hida stared at him. "Cody, you can't go!"

"But Mom, I have to. The others need my help! I can't just abandon them!"

His mother was going to protest again, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. She could not help but smile slightly. "Cody, I don't want to lose you the way I lost your father."

Cody looked to the ground, "I know Mom, but…"

She sighed again. "But, you're so much like him. This friend of yours, she means a lot to you?"

"She's our leader Mom, she's the one that found me and taught me what it meant to be a Digidestined."

Mrs. Hida smiled again. "You need to help your friend." She turned to Armadillomon, "Will you take good care of him?"

"Always have," he smiled, "Always will."

"Then go, and I wish you all the luck in the world."

Cody smiled and hugged her. "Thanks Mom."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk was so nervous that he was shaking as he waited in the hallway. The door before him spun open and a very distraught Mrs. Kamiya came running outside. "Kari?" she gasped, then frowned when she saw that it was not her daughter, but a blond haired boy. "I'm sorry, can I help you?"

Tk took a deep breath, "Actually, I think I can help you."

Mrs. Kamiya was confused. "You're not…selling anything, are you?"

"No, Mrs. Kamiya," he mentally slapped himself. He remembered her when he was Matt Ishida, but he had never met her as Tk Takashi. "I know we've never met, but I know your daughter."

"Kari?" she gasped, "Do you know where she is? I came home and she wasn't here! She promised me she wasn't going to go out tonight!"

Tk sighed again. "What I'm going to tell you is probably going to be a shock, but, your daughter is a Digidestined."

The color from Mrs. Kamiya's face drained. She almost fainted backwards, but Tk caught her. The brown-haired woman quickly regained her footing. "She's a Digidestined, just like her brother was?"

Tk had wanted to tell them about their son being reborn as their daughter, but now thought that Kari should be the one to tell them. He had only come to tell them where their daughter was. "Yes," he said, "I am one too, and Kari has been our leader."

"I don't believe it," she said, "This explains why her grades had been slipping so much. She almost didn't graduate High School, and this was because…" She shook her head slightly, "Sorry, I'm rambling. So, where is she?"

Tk took another deep breath. "Earlier tonight, she was captured by the dark forces that we're trying to stop in the Digital World."

Mrs. Kamiya gasped. "You mean she's…?"

"But don't worry," he smiled, "We're going to get her back. I don't know how long we'll be gone, but I wanted to let you know, so you would at least know…I mean, I know it's not very reassuring, but…I just…"

Mrs. Kamiya nodded. "Yes, I understand, thank you."

Tk bowed and turned to leave. "Wait."

He turned back to Mrs. Kamiya. "Yes?"

"I don't even know your name."

"Takeru Takashi, but you can call me Tk."

She smiled. "Tk, please save her."

"I will." He turned and walked down the hall.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Elecmon sighed as he walked out of his small hut in Primary Village. He could hear more of the newborn babies crying, and he was sure that he knew why. As he ran through the small village until he reached the source of the crying. A group of In-training digimon apparently had been playing a game of pass the ball, but it must have turned very ugly because all of the digimon were now crying, except for one.

Elecmon sighed again as he stared at the lone Koromon who was now bouncing the ball by himself. He walked over to him, "Koromon, did you hurt the others?"

"They asked for it!" he shouted back.

"Koromon, you have been fighting with the others ever since you hatched from you digi-egg. Why do you have so much fighting rage inside you?"

"I don't know," he said, "I just remember fighting and fighting. That's all. My partner is gone, but all he taught me was fighting."

Elecmon looked at him oddly. "What do you mean, 'partner?"

"I don't know, I can't remember."

"Well," he grabbed the ball away from him, "You still were fighting, that's ten minutes of time out."

"No!" he protested.

"Go!"

The Koromon bounced angrily over to the time-out wall. Elecmon sighed as he shook his head. "What am I going to do with him?"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_While Davis, Catherine and Derek search for the Key Cards, Tk, Cody and Ken plan an assault on Ladydevimon to rescue Kari But when a trio of female fatales gets in their way, will the boys be able to break through? _


	13. Dark SEED: Last Destiny Stone of Light

This is Ken. Kari was still feeling depressed about Yolei, and she felt that Davis was taking her place in destiny. Ladydevimon sent an emissary named Doumon to attack Kari and Salamon. Kari managed to use her Holy Lance, but incorrectly. She fused with Angewomon and created a Fallen Angel digimon named Persephamon. Tk and I managed to make her use up her energy, but before we could save her, Yolei brought her back into the Digital World. Meanwhile, Ladydevimon is at the location of the last Destiny Stone. Now, Davis, Catherine and Derek are searching for the Key Cards and Tk, Cody and I are going after Kari. Who knows when we'll see Earth again?

Dark SEED: Last Destiny Stone of Light

Veemon placed a hand over his eyes to shield them from the bright sunlight as he attempted to see the top of the mountain in front of him, a large, rounded mountain which had a patterned shape of smaller hills, giving it the look of a turtle shell. "You know, it really does look like the back of a turtle."

"I think that's why it's called Turtle Island," Davis sighed, "Now come on; I don't want to stand on this beach all day."

The two partners walked up the slope of the beach and onto a thin layer of grass. The other members of their small group were already on the top of the hill, surveying the area before them. "I think it's only about two, maybe three hundred kilometers before we hit the mountain itself," Derek said. "I wonder where that village is?"

"Probably at the bottom of the mountain," Crabmon said.

"Can we get moving?" Catherine asked, "I want to zee zat Floramon Village."

"Me too," Catherine's Floramon said.

As the group began walking across the palm tree littered field, Veemon turned to Floramon. "Were you born here?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean, I don't really remember where I was born, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't here." She looked around, "None of this looks familiar at all."

"It haz been a long time zince you were born, right?" Catherine asked, "Maybe you just don't remember?"

"Maybe," she said, "But I don't think it was here."

The group continued in silence until they arrived at a group of grass huts arranged in a circle around the base of the turtle shell mountain. As they walked into the village, they were greeted by a small group of Mushroomon. "You're humans, aren't you?" one of them asked.

"That's right," Davis nodded.

"What are you doing in the Village of the Living Earth?" the other Mushroomon asked, "Huh? What are you doing here?"

"We were sent here by the Gizamon," Veemon said, "We're looking for the Key Cards."

"Key Cards?" the Mushroomon asked, "What are the Key Cards?"

"Look, we're not here to hurt you," Derek said, "We're tryin' to stop an evil group named Dark SEED from getting them."

The trio of Mushroom huddled together for a few seconds and then turned back to the Digidestined. "Come with us."

They lead the Digidestined through the village. The residents had all came to the doors of their small homes to stare in awe and wonder at the strange beings that were walking through their town. The Digidestined did their best not to appear embarrassed, but Catherine's face was a deep shade of red. "Zis iz zo embarrazing!" she sighed, trying to cover her face.

The Mushroomon finally reached a large hut built out of the side of the mountain. Two of the Mushroomon stopped at the door and turned to face the Digidestined. "Wait here." The remaining Mushroomon passed through the cloth covering the entrance of the larger hut.

"What is this?" Davis asked, mentioning to the hut.

"The leader of our village," one of the Mushroomon answered, "He'll decide what to do with you."

The curtain opened and the third Mushroomon emerged. "Enter," he said. The Digidestined nodded and walked through the cloth and entered the inside of the large hut. In the center of the circular room was a massive, elderly tree holding a cane with one of his hands.

"Greetings," he said, in a raspy, elderly voice, "I am Cherrymon, the ruler of this village. What can I do for you?"

"We're looking for the Key Cards," Davis said, "We heard they were here?"

Cherrymon stared at him. "Tell me, how do I know that I can trust you?"

"We know Gennai and Ryo," Derek said, "If ya call the Guardians, I'm sure they'll tell ya."

Cherrymon nodded. "I'm going to have to take your word for it. After the fall of Myotismon's castle, we and the members of the Guardians found those cards in the wreckage. After much deliberation, we decided to hide the Cards here. I know that you have come a long way, but I am sorry to say that you have a more difficult task then you originally thought."

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked.

"The Key Cards were stolen about a year ago."

"Stolen?" they gasped.

"Yes, by a group of Bakemon and Vilemon," he answered, "They came from the Forest of Shattered Light."

" Forest of Shattered Light, huh?" Davis asked, "Well, where is it?"

Cherrymon was shocked. "You're going there?"

"Yeah?"

"But, that is a place where evil exists and multiplies in great numbers!"

"Well, it's not like we have a choice," the goggle-wearer responded, "Dark SEED is looking for those Cards too. If we don't get them first, they will."

Cherrymon smiled. "Very well. If you can keep those cards from the seeds of evil, then I will allow you to keep them."

"Thanks," Davis grinned, "Now, where's that forest?"

"Mushroomon!" Cherrymon called.

One of the Mushroomon entered. "Yes?"

"Bring these Digidestined and their partners to Pteranomon. Tell him to take them to the Forest of Shattered Light."

He bowed. "Yes. Please come with me."

"Go luck," Cherrymon called, "May the power of Alphamon, the justice of Dukemon and the courage of Omegamon watch over you always."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Ladydevimon's airship, the _Boreas_ was still stationed in the skies over Lumière. The small village populated by Patamons and Salamons had been successfully occupied by the devil woman's female army. Groups of Alruamons were marching around the city's perimeter, while Youkomons wandered through the inside, making certain that the residence remained where they were suppose to. Palmons and Dokugumons acted as foot soldiers while Biyomons hovered around the elevated perimeter.

Inside of the _Boreas_ Ladydevimon was grinning wildly as she stared at the unconscious figure lying in front of her. Hikari Kamiya was strapped to a metal table in the center of the room, with Salamon right beside her. The devil woman turned to the teenage girl that was standing over the Digidestined leader. "Well?"

"She's still out of it," Yolei answered, "I guess that the fusion thing took more out of her then she thought."

Ladydevimon frowned. "I still don't like the idea, but we're going to have to sedate her more."

Yolei nodded. "Hawkmon?"

The bird flew into the room with a large syringe in his claws. Yolei took it from him and gently injected Kari and Salamon with the contents. "There."

The devil woman walked over to where the Holy Lance was lying on another examining table. "Daemon wants us to bring him Kamiya and her Lance as soon as we're able."  
"And when are going to?"

She grinned again. 'Jet Silphymon is interrogating the villagers below. Once we have the location of the Destiny Stone of Light, we'll send Kamiya on her way."

Yolei nodded. "Right."

Down below, on the ground outside of the city of Lumière, Tk and Patamon pressed themselves as hard as they could onto the dirt-covered ground of the jungle. Tk glanced to the right and saw that Ken and Wormmon were pressed as firmly as they could on the ground. He turned to the left and saw that Cody and Armadillomon were doing the same. All six of the males held their breaths as a large black bird soared over their heads. The large flying creature would have seen them, if it had not been for the cover of the lush jungle around them. Tk waited a full five minutes after the bird had left before mentioning to the others. "Come on, that Sabirdramon is on patrol, so she'll be back. We've got to hurry."

They got back onto their hands and knees and continued to crawl towards the city. Using the cover of the thick jungle plants, they traveled undetected to the very edge of the underbrush. Unfortunately, they were not able to go any further.

Tk frowned as he stared at the outer perimeter of the village, using a large green leaf as cover. "How many do you think there are?"

Cody had to think before answering. "It looks like those Alruamons are positioned all around the outside of the city. It looks like we can either fight our way through or sneak inside."

Tk turned to Ken. "What do you think?"

"I think we'd have a better chance of getting onto the _Boreas_ if we sneak on," Ken said.

The blond teenager nodded. "Yeah, but how are we suppose to get inside? I don't think that we'll have much trouble blasting through those Alruamons, but I don't know what else Ladydevimon has inside of that city." He sighed deeply, "We need a way inside."

"I might have a solution," Ken said. He opened his backpack and removed his laptop. The others looked over his shoulder as a map appeared on the monitor.

"What's that, Ken?" Wormmon asked.

"A map of this city. Gennai gave me a CD containing many cities in the Digital World. Luckily, this city, Lumière, was on it. According to the schematics, there's an irrigation system. We might be able to use that to get inside."

Tk nodded. "Sounds good. Where is it?"

"Follow me."

He led them back through the jungle to an area that sloped down to form a hill, where a large cave had been created in the side. A small stream of water trickled from the entrance. "In here," Ken said, "Hopefully, Ladydevimon doesn't have any soldiers guarding it."

"Nobody's here," Armadillomon said, "She either doesn't know about it, or doesn't care."

Patamon chuckled. "She's a bit full of herself, so she probably doesn't care."

The rest of the journey was made in silence as they traveled through the dark tunnel of the city's sewers, with their digivices the only source of light. The small stream of water grew wider as they traveled deeper into the cavern. "Where are we going, Ken?" Tk asked.

Ken glanced at his laptop screen. "According to the blueprints, we should be coming up to a large underground lake. This is the main source of water for the village."

"I found it," Cody said, shinning the beam of light from his digivice to a massive underground lake that stretched for miles in every direction. He pointed his make-shift flashlight towards the stone ceiling and saw a large hole in the center. "Is that for a well?"

"I think so," Ken said, "That's our way into the city."

Tk frowned. "We still need a way up there. Ken, our digimon are going to have to digivolve and carry us up there."

"I'm on it," Wormmon said, jumping off of Ken's shoulder and onto the ground. "Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

The large insect man lifted Ken, Cody and Armadillomon over to the large hole, while Angemon did the same for Tk. The angel digimon lifted Tk through the well, but only as far as his head could see over the brick wall to survey the area. Fortunately, the center of the city was empty of Ladydevimon's female soldiers. The blond teenager swung his head around so he could see all the houses that were positioned in the city. His eyes settled on a large hut that was behind a few smaller dwellings. He guessed that that had to be the mayor or lord or whatever the ruler of this village was called.

"Come up here," he whispered to the other Digidestined, "And do it quietly." Ken, Cody and Armadillomon climbed over the rock well and stepped onto the ground. Angemon and Stingmon regressed to their Rookie forms and joined their human partners.

The group of digidestined and their partners silently and stealthily traveled through the darkness of the night. They pressed themselves firmly against the back of one of the huts. Tk glanced around the corner of the building. "Okay, the cost is clear, let's go."

They darted across the main path of the village to teach the rear of the larger hut. Pressing his back firmly against the wall, Tk lead the group as they slide around the circular shape of the hut until they reached an opening in the side of the wall, a window. The blond teenager cautiously looked over the window sill at the inside of the building. "Well?" Ken asked, "What's going on?"

"There's a group of Patamons and Salamons inside," he reported, "A few Unimons, Centarumons, a digimon that looks like Angemon, but with pink cloths, and a large human cat. They're talking to a group of black Biyomons and…and what looks like a teenage girl in armor. She's carrying some kind of…of pinwheel on a staff."

"What are they saying?" Cody asked.

Tk shook his head. "Something about…the Destiny Stone of Light...they want to know where it is…."

One of the black Biyomons turned her head towards the window, but saw nothing. She turned back to face the citizens of the village. Outside, Tk breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think she saw me."

Wormmon silently crawled over to the edge of the wall to peer at the entrance. The group of black Biyomons and the armored teenage girl marched out. The green digimon turned back to the others. "I think they left."

Tk looked back over the window. "They did. Let's go." The group of Digidestined darted around the corner and jumped inside the large house. The group of citizens stared in awe at the trio of humans and digimon.

"Who are you?" the human cat asked.

"My name is Takeru Takashi, this is Patamon, Ken Ichijoji, Wormmon, Cody Hida, and Armadillomon. We were sent here by Gennai."

"The Guardians?" the human cat asked, "Good. Maybe you can help us. My name is Bastemon, and I am the ruler of this village."

"Who just left?" Ken asked.

"That was Jet Silphymon," Bastemon said, "She is Ladydevimon's top lieutenant. They wanted to know where the location of the Destiny Stone of Light is."

"Did you tell her?" Tk asked.

Bastemon hesitated. "They have my entire village occupied. What was I suppose to do?"

Tk sighed. "We have reason to believe that one of our members is being held on Ladydevimon's airship. Is there any way to get up there?"

Bastemon thought for a few minutes. "Maybe, but we will have to hurry."

"Why?" Armadillomon asked.

"This city sits in the center of a large valley. Mt. Starshine to the left, and Mt. Tamarac to the right. The latter mountain contains a massive cavern that reaches to its very center. There, is where the Destiny Stone of Light resides." She sighed, "I heard Jet Silphymon talking, they are going to take their entire airship into that cavern."

The group of males gasped. "When are they leaving?" Wormmon asked.

"Soon," Bastemon said, "They are stealing supplies from us. We could hide you within those crates."

"Thank you," Tk bowed.

An hour later the _Boreas_ dropped a large crane down to the village below. The citizens of Lumière were forced to load large crates onto the platform for the mechanical crane to lift into the hull of the large airship. Inside one of the larger wooden crates was Tk's Digidestined group. As they felt themselves being lifted into the air, Tk took a deep breath. "Here we go."

Ken looked at him. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Actually, there is," he sighed, "Ladydevimon isn't going to be a walk in the park, from what I hear she's pretty tough, maybe stronger then Magna Angemon. If I really want a good chance to beat her, I may need to use that Holy Sword that Tatum gave me, but…what if I get it wrong too? What if Patamon and I become some kind of…Dark Angemon?"

Ken stared him straight in the eyes. "Listen, Kari is my friend, so it's kind of hard to say this, but, I think that what happened to her, was her fault."

The others hidden inside of the crate gasped. "What?"

"What I mean is, she was really depressed. The situation with Yolei and Davis, and how she felt like everything was her fault, I think that Persephamon wasn't suppose to happen, but did because of her mood."

"But what about me?" he asked, "I haven't exactly been all smiles and sunshine myself."

"Well," Patamon said with a smile, "I guess we'll just have to do our best."

Tk smiled as he patted his partner's head. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Guys," Cody said, "I think we've stopped moving."

The group of digidestined and their digimon partners could indeed tell that they had stopped moving. They held their breaths and waited to try and detect any form of sound from outside of the box. They heard none. Cody looked through a small peephole. "I think we're in some kind of cargo hold."

"Is there anybody out there?" Armadillomon asked.

"No."

"All right," Tk said, taking a deep breath, "I'm lifting the lid." He pushed the ceiling of the crate up and took a better look around the cargo hold. It was empty, and very dark. He saw what appeared to be the cargo entrance in the bottom of the floor, closed and sealed. There were a series of porthole shaped windows in the walls and a large staircase in the far corner. "I think they're finished loading. Come on."

The digidestined climbed out of the box and made their way through the dozens of others boxes until they reached the windows. They each found their own and glanced outside to watch as the ground got further and further away. "We're floating further into the sky?" Wormmon gasped.

"The tunnel," Ken said, "Ladydevimon is heading for that tunnel where the Destiny Stone is."

The _Boreas_ was indeed pulling away from its hovering position over the city of Lumière and heading towards the large cavern in the center of Mt. Tamarac. It floated through the cavern opening and began to travel down the rocky tunnel.

Back inside of the cargo hold, Cody looked to the others. "Maybe we should try and stop them before they get to that Destiny Stone?"

Tk glanced at the staircase. "We'll probably have to fight our way through."

"Not to worry," Armadillomon asked, "I think we'll be fine."

Tk took a deep breath, "All right, lets go!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

The floor above the cargo hold was populated by Alruamons and black Biyomons, performing their normal functions. They were suddenly thrown into the walls as the floor was ripped apart. The three Champion digimon jumped through the hole and began tearing through Ladydevimon's army.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis stared over the side of Pteranomon to get a better look at the island that the large bird was descending towards. "That's the Forest of Shattered Light?"

"That's right," Pteranomon said, as Davis's group jumped onto the ground, "Be careful inside of there. It's a place that reeks of evil."

Catherine stared at the sea of dark green trees, as an equal amount of darkness streamed from the forest. She shivered. "I can feel ze darknezz!"

"Be careful about that too," Pteranomon said, "I'll wait here for you. Good luck."

"Thanks," Derek said, as he fell in line behind Catherine and Floramon as Davis and Veemon lead the group into the dark forest.

"They weren't kiddin'," Derek said, "This place sure looks like a perfect breedin' ground for things that go bump in the night, eh?"

The rest of journey was made in silence, except for a few jokes. The depressing and alien nature of the woods around them caused them to be silent. They traveled deeper into the woods until they could see a large group of buildings. "I guess that's where we've got to go," Veemon sighed.

A group of Bakemon suddenly flew from the town and headed down to the road to the Digidestined. "Oh great!" Davis sighed, "All right, everyone, get ready to…" He trailed off when he noticed that the Bakemon passed right by them. "Did they even see us?"

"Maybe zey juzt do not care?" Catherine suggested.

"Maybe," Derek said, "We should probably keep going with caution."

The group took a deep breath and began to walk through the town. There were dozens of Bakemons and Vilemons, but none of the dark digimon appeared to notice the invaders. Every dark digimon was performing their normal, every day duties. "This is really weird," Floramon said, "Why don't they notice us?"

Derek mentioned to a group of Bakemon and Vilemon that were assembled in front of a large raised platform, a speaker's stage. "I wonder what's happenin' there."

Davis looked around at the citizens of the city. There was a Bakemon that hovering in front of its house. He took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going for it." He walked over to the ghost digimon and waved. "Hi there."

The Bakemon stared at him. "You are a human, aren't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "You do not belong here, this is a place for darkness only."

The goggle-wearer hesitated. "Um, well…."

"I bet I know," the Bakemon grinned, "You're here to visit the Temple of Darkness and worship the God of Darkness, haven't you?"

"Uh, yeah."

The Bakemon pointed towards the large temple. "You must hurry, the ceremony is about to begin."

Davis thanked him and ran back to the others. After a quick explanation, the digidestined ran to join the group of Bakemon and Vilemon that were assembled in front of the large platform, that contained a Bakemon with a red hood and a scythe and a black bowling ball with bat wings. The group of humans and digimon silently slipped in the back of the assemblage of ghosts and demon bats. "What's going on here?" Crabmon asked a Vilemon.

"We are waiting for Lord Phantomon and Master Demidevimon to begin the ceremony."

"What ceremony?"

"Shh!" the Vilemon said, placing a finger over his lips, "The ceremony is about to begin."

The Phantomon raised his scythe to the sky. Drum beats could be heard in the distance. "_Khul nu kappi par!" _

The drums sounded again.

"Welcome," Phantomon said, "Welcome, fellow brothers! We, the Cult of Darkness, who were once the loyal followers of the Ruler of Darkness, the Undead King, he who was and will be the Beast of the Armageddon! The Vampire Lord, Myotismon!"

The Cult of Darkness cheered.

"But now we worship a new lord," Phantomon continued, "And, in honor of our new god, we have taken the mythical cards that Myostimon once coveted so well." He spread his arms open to the dark sky, "Our new god, our human god!"

As the Cult of Darkness began to cheer, the digidestined and their partners stared at one another. "Human God?" Catherine gasped.

"Hiroshi?" Davis asked.

Derek shook his head. "I don't think so. Why would Dark SEED need to look for the Key Cards if they all ready had them? No, I think that their god is someone else."

They turned their attention back to the balcony, but saw that Phantomon and Demidevimon were gone. "What?" Davis gasped, "Where'd they go?"

"They have returned to the temple," the Vilemon said, "To pray to Myotismon's cards. In the Temple of Darkness, deep in the center of the forest."

Davis looked to the other members of his small team. "Well, let's move."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The _Boreas_ continued its voyage through the tunnel in Mt. Tamarac, searching for the Destiny Stone of Light. The large airship had to move slowly through the winding tunnel; although there were not any twists or turns, the tunnel was growing narrower. Speeding through an unknown area could surely result in serious injury or death.

Ladydevimon grinned to herself as she stood atop the deck of her floating ship. "Soon, that Destiny Stone will be ours!" She turned to face Yolei and Jet Silphymon. "Well, let's finish our little quest here."

An Alruamon ran up the stairs and onto the small deck. "Mistress Ladydevimon!"

"What is it?" she asked.

"Madame, down below, three Digidestinds…"

"What?" she reached over and grabbed the small plant digimon with her claws.

"They somehow snuck aboard, they're wreaking havoc everywhere; almost everyone is gone…"

The devil woman flung the plant creature back into the deck. "Digidestineds, here?"

Jet Silphymon stepped forward. "I will handle them, M'lady."

Ladydevimon grinned. "Good, go. Inoe and I will handle the stone, as well as our…special cargo," she added with a chuckle, turning to where the still unconscious Kari and Salamon were lying on the floor.

Down below, Tk's group was making their way up to the deck. They had just entered the floor directly below, one that was bare of any digimon.

"Not bad," Tk said, "There's the door, let's move."

The group ran for the stairs, but was stopped when a familiar girl in armor dropped in front of them. "Greetings."

Another digimon appeared from the right; a giant black spider. "Hi."

A third digimon flew in from the left. She was wearing a red dress with the chain wrapped tightly around her legs and a large black buckle around her waist. She wore two red gloves that made her hands look very large, as well as a black cat and pointed hat. Most striking was the large broom that she was using to hover above the ground. She nodded somberly. "Welcome."

The first female digimon spoke. "Welcome to the _Boreas_ We are the servants of Ladydevimon."

"I'm Dokugumon," the second digimon said.

"I am Witchmon," the third digimon said.

"And I'm Jet Silphymon," the first one continued, "Prepare to die." She shot forward and swung her staff into the center of the trio of male digimon. They jump aside as Jet Silphymon's weapon destroyed a section of the floor.

"Jet Silphymon's an Ultimate!" Tk shouted, "Angemon, digivolve!"

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

The angel digimon swung his glowing sword around and blocked Jet Silphymon's staff. She pulled up and the sword became caught on the pinwheel top of the staff. Witchmon began to fly around Stingmon in a tight circle. The insect digimon tried to grab a hold of the broom, but the witch digimon was flying too close. She blasted his back before he could attack. Ankylomon charged over to Dokugumon and executed his Tail Hammer attack, slamming his spiked tail into the spider's face. Unfortunately, the two Champion digimon were too massive and the force of the land digimon's attack caused both of them to smash through the floor and every floor beneath it until they were once again in the cargo hold.

Cody ran over to the edge of the large hole. "Ankylomon!" he shouted, "Are you okay?" Down below, in the cargo hold, Ankylomon was trying to over-power Dokugumon by pushing his head into the spider's. He was too involved in his battle to hear his partner.

Back in the floor below the deck, the first sub-deck, Magna Angemon's sword was still caught in Jet Silphymon's pinwheel staff. He brought his foot up and kicked her in the stomach, forcing her to let go of her staff. He propelled himself through the hole. "Hold on, Ankylomon," he shouted, "I am coming to aid you."

After she recovered herself, Jet Silphymon shot after Magna Angemon, traveling through the holes in the floors. "Dokugumon!" she shouted, "Open the cargo doors!"

Down below, the large spider was still engaged in the head-butting battle with Ankylomon, but she did hear Jet Silphymon's orders. She fired a stream of webbing which flew across the cargo hold and hit the large red button that was on the far wall. A section of the floor opened to reveal the outside. As soon as Magna Angemon arrived in the cargo hold, Jet Silphymon grabbed him by the leg and threw him though the opening. She shot after him.

"Why have you brought us out here?" Magna Angemon asked, watching as the _Boreas_ continued on its voyage through the tunnel.

"I have more maneuverability out here," she answered, holding up her staff, "Are you ready to continue?"

He responded by slashing his sword at her. She shot out of the way and swung her own weapon and managed to rip part of his white suit. "Not bad," he said, "But I'm not finished yet."

As the two Ultimates continued their battle, on the first sub-floor of the _Boreas_, Stingmon and Witchmon were still attempting to attack one another in the close confines of the floor. The witch digimon placed both of her palms together and fired a blast of blue smoke which encased Stingmon. "Aquari Pressure!"

Stingmon screamed out in pain as the blue smog began to crush him. Witchmon grinned as she clapped her palms together, and the blue smoke dissipated into the air. Stingmon began to slowly descend towards the floor. Witchmon shot over and smashed her broom into his head, throwing him into the metal floor, inches from the massive hole. Ken, Tk and Cody had to jump out of the way before being crushed. Stingmon had brought himself back to consciousness and leapt to attack Witchmon. He was able to grab the end of her broom and spun her around in the air before throwing her into the floor. Unfortunately, it was too close to the three humans. They had to once again, leap out of harm's way.

"Stingmon!" Ken shouted, "There's not enough room in here, you've got to take the battle outside."

"Roger Ken," the insect digimon said. He grabbed Witchmon's broom again and shot through the holes in the floors, heading all the way down to the cargo hold and then out the open dock doors. He flew past the battling Jet Silphymon and Magna Angemon and slammed Witchmon into the wall of the rock tunnel. The shockwaves caused the entire tunnel to shake and drop small pebbles from the ceiling. This went unnoticed.

Inside of the cargo hold, Dokugumon was losing her head-butting battle with Ankylomon. The land digimon was pushing the spider closer to the cargo door. She kept trying to push against Ankylomon, but she was loosing. The spider finally decided to take the offense and used her large jaw to clamp her fangs around Ankylomon's head. He had to pull back, giving Dokugumon enough time to run to the cargo hold and jumped through. She shot a thick spider's thread into the bottom of the _Boreas_ so she could lower herself to the ground safely. She was almost to the ground when Ankylomon jumped out of the cargo doors and slammed into her back. The thread snapped and both massive digimon crashed into the bottom of the tunnel. This sent another shockwave through the rock wall, causing it to shake again.

"I've had about enough of you!" the spider shouted, "Poison Thread!" A spider's web shot from her mouth and wrapped itself around Ankylomon. This web grew even larger, grabbing Magna Angemon and Stingmon, trapping them like flies.

"Excellent work, Dokugumon," Jet Silphymon said.

"Yes, I must agree," Witchmon said, gazing up at the massive spider web that covered the tunnel with Stingmon, Ankylomon and Magna Angemon trapped inside.

Inside of the _Boreas_, the three human digidestined stared through the portholes in horror. "Oh no," Cody said, "They'll stuck. What are we going to do now?"

"Just have faith," Tk said, "They'll be okay, I just know it."

They soon became aware that the airship had stopped. Before they could even speak about it, they felt the ship move again, this time not forward, but around in a circle. They had to run around the massive hole in the floor to reach the windows on the other side so they could keep watching their digimon's battles. "What just happened?"

"We turned around for some reason," Ken said, "The _Boreas_ is facing the entrance of the tunnel, but why?"

Up above on the deck, Ladydevimon stood facing the last Destiny Stone. Yolei and Aquillamon were at her side. "There it is, the Destiny Stone of Light."

"Shall I destroy it?" Aquillamon asked.

"No," Ladydevimon said, grinning, "Allow me."

While the three male digimon struggled to break free of the web, the trio of female fatales marched towards their prey. Dokugumon began to attack Ankylomon by punching him with her eight legs. Witchmon used her Aquari Pressure attack on Stingmon once more, while Jet Silphymon used her pinwheel shaped staff to slash across Magna Angemon's chest. The angel groaned in pain as he struggled to free himself. "Hurts, doesn't it?" Jet Silphymon chuckled.

"Not as much as you will hurt," the angel said, defiantly.

Down below, Witchmon laughed as her attacks slowly destroyed Stingmon. "Have you been defeated yet?" she asked.

"No way!" Stingmon shouted. His glowing saber shot out from his wrist, tearing through the section of the web that held his hand imprisoned. Witchmon was too shocked to move out of the way before Stingmon smacked her with his hand. He quickly used the glowing saber to cut through the web that held his body. He dove down to help free Ankylomon, when Witchmon appeared behind him and grabbed a hold of his ankle. She flung him into the rock wall.

"I will return what you have done to me," she said. She let go of his ankle to execute her Aquari Pressure, but the insect digimon did not give her the chance. He blasted off of the wall and head-butted her across the tunnel to where she slammed into the other side. He leapt after her and began smashing her with a flurrying array of kicks.

"Spinning Spiking Strike!"

If she had not been backed up against the wall, she could have moved out of the way, but with each of Stingmon's kicks, she was pushed even further into the wall. She did not have a chance to escape, or survive. She gave a final scream before being deleted. Stingmon panted heavily as he turned to help free his two other partners, but found that they had already freed themselves. Magna Angemon had followed Stingmon's lead and used his own wrist based swords to cut the webbing which bound him, while Ankylomon used his Tail Hammer attack to tear through the stick substance.

Ankylomon leapt into the air and slammed down on Dokugumon. He began to raise his legs and slam them down onto the spider's back again and again. "Yeah, can't take the pain, can you?" he asked, grinning slightly, "Well, you'll be joining your friend Witchmon soon!"

He leapt into the air and executed a back flip, bringing his spiked tail into the spider's face. "Tail Hammer!" She was deleted instantly.

Up above, Jet Silphymon and Magna Angemon were still engaged in battle. The female digimon swung her staff around at a tremendous rate, creating a wind storm that through Magna Angemon into the rock wall. "Ultra Turbulence!" she shouted, finishing her attack by sending a sharp current of wind that sliced the angle's hat off. She shot after him, but he pointed his glowing sword at her and shot a series of glowing bolts.

"Excalibur!"

Jet Silphymon was too close to move out of the way before the barrage of energy sabers tore through her body. "You may have defeated us," she said, "But Ladydevimon will succeed in her task!" She did not scream as her body was destroyed.

"Nice work," Stingmon said, "But what did she mean?"

"Up there!" Ankylomon shouted. The others quickly looked to the hovering _Boreas_ and saw the large floating Destiny Stone of Light. Ladydevimon was approaching the stone. "Oh no, we've got to stop her."

Magna Angemon nodded. "Stingmon, fly back inside and get Tk and the others." He flew over and grabbed Ankylomon, "We'll handle Ladydevimon."

"Roger," Stingmon nodded. He shot back into the _Boreas_ through the open cargo doors and open through the multiple floors to reach the three humans still waiting on the first sub-floor. Outside, Magna Angemon flew up to the Destiny Stone of Light, attempting to make it there before the devil woman. Unfortunately, with the weight of the land digimon, he was not at top speed. He was too late to stop Ladydevimon from using her Darkness Wave attack to destroy the Destiny Stone.

The two digimon watched in horror as she caught the heart of the stone and landed back on the deck. Magna Angemon dropped Ankylomon onto the deck while Stingmon and the three humans charged up from the first sub-floor. Ladydevimon grinned. "So, you made it past Jet Silphymon, huh? Good, I wanted to handle this myself." Her grin widened as she mentioned over her shoulder, "You might want to say goodbye, as this will be the last time you see your leader."

The Digidestined and their partners gasped as they saw Kari and Salamon, unconscious and bound, lying on Aquillamon's back. Yolei grabbed the heart of the Destiny Stone that Ladydevimon dropped into her hands. Tk ran towards her. "Yolei! Yolei, don't!" The devil woman dropped down in front of him.

She looked over her shoulder. "Inoe, take Kamiya and the Destiny Stone heart to Daemon, I will handle the Digidestined."

"Don't kill them too easily," Yolei laughed as she jumped onto Aquillamon's back. The large bird shot off of the _Boreas_ and flew towards the entrance of the tunnel. Magna Angemon attempted to fly after him, but Ladydevimon grabbed him by the ankle and flung him into the deck. The hovering devil woman grinned. "Now, let's begin."

"Stop her!" Tk shouted, "We've got to go after Kari!"

Magna Angemon shot towards Ladydevimon, but the devil woman used her claws and slashed across the angel's chest, ripping his shirt to shreds. Stingmon flew up behind her to jab his saber into her back, but she was too fast and executed a roundhouse kick, throwing him backwards.

On the deck, Cody ran over to Ankylomon. "This is like being a cheerleader on the sidelines," the land digimon growled.

"There's nothing you can do about it," Cody sighed, "You can't fly. This is a battle that's going to take place in the air."

Magna Angemon and Stingmon shot towards Ladydevimon, each one holding out their wrist-based swords. "Trying to double team a girl, huh?" the devil woman grinned, "Well, I've got a few tricks of my own. Darkness Wave!"

Both of the male digimon gasped as the wave of dark bats shot towards them. "Oh no!" Magna Angemon gasped.

"Get out of the way!" Stingmon shouted. Magna Angemon was able to dodge out of the way, but the Darkness Wave attack brutally attacked Stingmon. He regressed to Wormmon and landed in Ken's hands.

"Sorry, Ken," he said, "I was too weak from fighting Witchmon."

"It's okay," he said. The black-haired boy turned to Tk. "It's up to Magna Angemon now."

"Don't worry," he said, "Magna Angemon can take it. Do you hear that, buddy? You're not going to let her win, right?"

"R..right," Magna Angemon said, "I will not lose!" He propelled himself towards the floating devil woman and prepared himself to slash her with his sword.

"Ha!" Ladydevimon laughed, "Come and get me!"

He moved closer with his wrist-base sword, but at the last section he used his other fist to smash Ladydevimon's face. She was stunned momentarily, and Magna Angemon used this opportunity to grab her by the ankle and fling her into the rock wall with incredible force.

The Digidestined and the digimon on the airship cheered. "Way to go!" Tk shouted, "That devil witch's got nothing on you!"

"Magna Angemon!" Ankylomon shouted, "Look out!"

The angel spun around and saw that the devil woman had emerged from the rock wall, a large scar on her pale face, with an equally large sneer of anger. "You destroyed my beautiful face!" she shouted, "And I'll repay you in kind!"

She held out her left claw, which formed into a large blade. "Dark Wing!" She propelled herself to Magna Angemon and attacked which her Dark Wing attack, but the angel used his wrist-based sword to block it. The two Ultimates engaged in a power struggled, before Ladydevimon was able to win and tossed the angle aside. As he fell towards the wall of the tunnel, he spun around and pointed his sword at her, executing his Excalibur attack, firing a barrage of glowing daggers at Ladydevimon. She just grinned and sent them flying back with a hit from her Dark Wing. Magna Angemon was torn apart by his own attack.

"Magna Angemon!" Tk screamed, watching as his partner began to fall from the skies, "Magna Angemon! You can't die, I need you! We still need you! Please, you've got to wake up!"

Suddenly, a bright light exploded from his backpack, illuminating the entire cavern with a golden glow. "Tk?" Ken asked.

"It's my sword," he said, opening his backpack and pulling out the glowing sword that was given to him by Tatum, "It's glowing?"

"It must want to work," Wormmon said, "Just like Hiroshi's did."

Tk stared at it in his hands, "But, what if what happened to Kari happens to me?"

"Tk," Cody said, "Remember what you told me? We just have to have faith in ourselves? I believe in you."

"Me too," Ankylomon said.

"Me three," Ken said.

"Don't leave me out," Wormmon grinned.

Tk nodded, a slight smile forming over his lips. "Okay, if you guys believe in me, then I've got no choice but to believe in myself." He took a deep breath and pointed the sword at his partner, "Magna Angemon!"

A beam of light golden light shot from the edge of the sword hilt into him, while a beam blasted from the tip of the blade and merged with Magna Angemon. The two partners where pulled towards one another and exploded in a bright golden light. The new figure that was formed appeared to be Magna Angemon, but his muscles were not as developed. He was shorter, and he did not wear his hat, leaving his eyes visible. In his hand he held the Holy Sword tightly. He spoke in a fusion of Tk and Magna Angemon's voice. "Well, Ladydevimon," he said, "Are you ready to continue?"

She stared at him. "You don't scare me."

Tk/Angemon grinned. "Perhaps I should." He placed the Holy Sword into a holder on his wrist and pointed it at Ladydevimon, "Give me your best shot."

She grinned. "With pleasure." She shot forward, swinging her Dark Wing blade, which was easily shattered by Tk/Angemon's Holy Sword. She grabbed a hold of her stump. "You..you…!"

"I can do much worse then that," he said.

Ladydevimon shot back, then fired her Darkness Wave attack. Tk/Angemon swung his Holy Sword, executed his own Excalibur attack, destroying the bats of Ladydevimon's wave with ease. The glowing sabers tore through the Darkness Wave and into the devil woman, throwing her into the wall of the tunnel once more. The fused human/angel waited until Ladydevimon had dug herself out of the rock wall.

"This is it!" she shouted, "I'm sick and tired of you!" She shot towards Tk/Angemon with her claws outstretched.

The fused human/angel pointed his Holy Sword to the sky and formed a glowing circle in the air. "Gate of Destiny!" The glowing gate open and began to pull the devil woman into it.

"No!" she shouted, being caught in the suction. She tried to free herself, but she was not able to. She was pulled inside the Gate seconds before it slammed shut. The Gate of Destiny twirled around before dissolving into nothingness.

The Digidestineds and the Digimon standing on the _Boreas_ cheered loudly. Tk/Angemon landed on the deck and were encased in a golden light. When the glow faded, Tk was standing with Tokomon on his shoulder and the Holy Sword in his hand. The human grinned. "Wow, that was pretty cool."

A loud rumbling suddenly exploded through the tunnel. "What's that?" Armadillomon shouted.

Ken watched as the ceiling of the cavern began to fall apart. "The tunnel is falling apart! It must have been the battles! We've got to get out of here!"

Tk looked at Tokomon. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't have any energy left."

"Me either," Wormmon said.

Cody looked up to the collapsing ceiling. "We're going to be crushed!"

"Downstairs!" Tk ordered, "We've got to find the control room!"

The group of humans and digimon ran off the deck and into the bowels of the ship. After searching a dozen rooms, they finally located the bridge. They past the captain's chair and over to the array of switches and knobs that were located directly under two giant windows which allowed them to see the entrance at the end of the long collapsing tunnel. "Ken?" Tk asked.

The black-haired boy stared at the large control panel. "It would help if I had some idea of what any of these did."

Outside, a large boulder fell from the ceiling and smashed into the side of the ship. The hull was not damaged, but it did cause the entire vessel to shake violently.

"That was a big one!" Armadillomon shouted.

Ken was breathing heavily as he examined the control board in front of him. There were dozens of buttons, knobs and one large screen in the center. His attention focused on a lever that was resting in the lowest setting. "I think this is the accelerator."

"Are you sure?" Wormmon asked.

He shrugged. "We've don't much choice." He grabbed tightly to the lever and pushed it all the way forward. Outside, the jet engines attached to the wings and the rear of the ship exploded with fire and smoke. The _Boreas_ shot forward at such an incredible rate that it threw the Digidestined and Digimon in the bride into the far wall.

"I think that was it, Ken," Wormmon said.

The black-haired boy had caught onto the edge of a raised platform where the captain's chair rested. He clawed his way back to the control panel and looked out the large viewing windows. The _Boreas_ was escaping the tunnel, but if they did not change direction fast, they would smash into a massive stalactite. Ken shot his head around the control panel before seeing what appeared to be a large joystick. He took a hold of it and pushed it to the right. The entire airship swung to the right, missing the stalactite, but heading straight towards the wall. Ken pushed the joystick back to the left and the ship swung back, safely zooming towards the entrance. The _Boreas_ continued on its path and successfully shot out of the collapsing tunnel. Ken grabbed the accelerator and pulled it back to its starting position. The ship stalled out and slammed into the ground, a mile from the perimeter of the city of Lumière.

Inside of the _Boreas_, Tk breathed a sigh of relief. "Jeeze, that was close."

"Tell me about it," Cody said, struggling to his feet, "But now Daemon has Kari and Dark SEED just destroyed all of the Destiny Stones!"

"I know," Tk said, "But I guess they still need those Key Cards. Hopefully Davis can get them before they do."

"But we don't have any idea where Daemon or Dark SEED headquarters are," Cody said.

"Don't worry, Cody," Armadillomon said, "We'll find a way."

Ken stared at the control panel in front of him. "Maybe Ladydevimon's airship can tell us."

"You can make it tell you?" Tk asked, awe struck.

"Maybe it's on-board computer can," he replied, "Give me a little while."

Tk nodded and smiled slightly as he looked to Cody. "No problem. I've got faith in you."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Tk's group heads to confront Daemon while Davis's group continues their search for the Digimon Key Cards Will either team succeed in their missions when they're confronted by enemies more powerful then they've faced before? _

_Next: "Dark SEED: The Return of Kari." Your truest friends will always come to your aid. _


	14. Dark SEED: The Return of Kari

Cody here. Davis, Catherine and Derek arrived on Turtle Island, but found to their horror that the Key Cards had been stolen. They traveled to the Forest of Shattered Light and found a cult using the Key Cards in worshipping in the Dark Temple. Our group, meanwhile, traveled to the city of Lumerie, where Ladydevimon's airship, the _Boreas_ was. We got on board and had to fight three of Ladydevimon's fighters. We weren't in time to save the Last Destiny stone or to rescue Kari before Yolei took her to Daemon. We were able to destroy Ladydevimon, and her airship is now ours!

Dark SEED: The Return of Kari

Armadillomon yawned loudly as he followed Cody out of the small hut. "Why'd we hafta get up so early?"

Cody shrugged as they walked to the outer limits of Lumière. "Tk wanted to get an early start. He's really worried about Kari."

The small ground digimon nodded. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean."

The two partners exited the outer limits of Lumière, where they could gaze up at the _Boreas_ resting on the green grass. Technicians were running in and out of the drawbridge that had been lowered from the opening in the side to the ground, as well as the Centarumons that were loading boxes of supplies inside. They saw Tk and Patamon staring up at the large airship. They waved when they saw the other digidestined and digimon. "Good morning!"

Cody waved back. "Good morning Tk. How far are the repairs?"

Tk mentioned to the drawbridge. "Here comes Ken. We'll find out now."

Cody saw Ken emerging from the _Boreas_ with Wormmon on his shoulder. "Ken, how's it going?"

Ken smiled as he nodded. "Great. We were able to repair the damage that we caused, specifically the holes in the floors. We also refueled and changed the major operating system." He grinned. "The _Boreas_ is now, officially ours. Dark SEED won't be able to get past my security system, much less operate it by remote terminal."

"Great," Tk smiled, "So, we can use this to get to Daemon?"

"Without a doubt," Ken said, "We can leave anytime."

Tk nodded. "Great."

Bastemon and a group of Salamons approached them. "So, you'll be leaving soon?" the cat woman asked.

"Yes," Tk said, "Thank you very much for your hospitality and your kindness."

The elder of the village smiled warmly. "It was no trouble. Now that the Destiny Stones have been destroyed, you and the other Digidestined and our only hope. So, giving you a place to stay for the night and giving you supplies for your journey is the very least I could do."

"You've got a lot of faith in us," Patamon said, "I hope we don't let you down."

"Where are we goin' anyway?" Armadillomon asked.

"To a place called Darkness Falls," Ken said.

"That's a really evil place," Bastemon said, "Daemon's the most powerful of SEED's four generals."

"That's great," Wormmon sighed.

"Don't worry," Ken said, "We'll be fine."

Tk took a deep breath. "Well, let's be on our way." He bowed in front of Bastemon. "Thank you again."

"Good luck," she said.

Tk saw that the others were already waiting at the top of the drawbridge, so he gave a small wave and ran up the ramp. Once he was inside, Ken pressed a large button on the side, which retracted the drawbridge into a holding area underneath of the entrance before giant twin doors sealed the opening.

They walked up to the bridge, where Ken walked over and sat down in the pilot's seat, in front of a computer console filled with glowing buttons and monitors. There was another chair seat next to Ken's, where Cody sat. "Where am I suppose to sit?" Tk asked.

"Come on, Tk," Patamon smiled, "I think the captain's seat is yours."

He shrugged. "I guess." He plopped into the large seat in the center and stared out the large windows. He grinned. "Are we ready?"

"All systems check," Ken reported.

Tk nodded. "Then move out."

Ken pressed a series of buttons on the console in front of him and the propellers attached to the hull and the wings began to spin, lifting the airship into the sky. After Ken pressed another set of buttons, the ship moved forward, heading towards Darkness Falls, and Daemon.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis's small group was traveling through the Forest of Shattered Light, journeying to the Temple of Darkness, or at least attempting to. "I'm telling you!" Catherine shrieked, "We've been zis way before!"

"How can ya' tell?" Derek snapped, mentioning to the black trees that were creating a canopy, blocking all forms of light except for the thin slivers that were flowing through the branches. "Everything looks exactly the same!"

Catherine huffed and pointed to a tree trunk that was resting on the side of the path. "I remember zat trunk. We were definitely here!"

"Are you sure?"

"Oui!" she shouted, "I'm not blind!"

"Calm down," Floramon said, stepping between them, "I know we're all tired and cranky, but we can't start fighting each other!"

"She's right," Derek sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Catherine said, "Zis iz just zo frustrating!"

"I know," Davis finally said, "But we've got to keep looking for that temple. We need those Key Cards!" He grumbled as he kicked a fallen branch, "Where the heck is that stupid Temple of Darkness?"

"I can answer you."

The group jumped back and started searching the area. "Who said that?" Veemon asked.

"I did. Up here."

They looked to the branches of the trees until they found a small yellow caterpillar on the branches. "Hiya."

"Who are you?" Davis asked.

"That's Kunemon," Veemon answered.

"That's my name," the caterpillar replied, "And I can tell you where the Temple of Darkness is."

"You can?" Catherine grinned.

"Yup, but why would you want to go to that terrible place?"

"There's something inside that we need," Davis said.

"What da ya mean, 'terrible place'?" Derek asked.

"They do some weird stuff inside that place," Kunemon said, "Really weird rituals and ceremonies." He shivered, "Freaky."

"But, you can tell us where it is?" Davis asked.

Kunemon nodded. "Yup." He swung on a silky thread down to Davis's shoulder. "Just go where I tell ya."

"I just hope you know where you're going," Davis sighed.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Darkness Falls was a mountainous area with hundreds of waterfalls of various sizes. One large waterfall was situated in the center of the black mountain range. This waterfall collected into a large river that flowed around an island that contained a dark tower. On the top of the multi-floored obelisk, Daemon, Yolei and Hawkmon stared at a large monitor that displayed a familiar airship descending towards the rocky terrain on the shores of the river.

"Sir," a Vilemon said, "We have positive identification, that is the _Boreas_."

Daemon growled. "So, they not only defeated Ladydevimon, but stole her airship as well?"

"Sir!" the Vilemon said, tapping an earpiece, "I'm receiving a transmission from base. It's Lord Hiroshi."

"Put it on screen, at once!"

The Vilemon nodded and pressed a series of buttons on the console in front of him. The monitor changed into an image of Hiroshi. "We registered an invasion of our airspace."

"It's the _Boreas_," he replied, "Those Digidestined stole Ladydevimon's ship!"

"Ken Ichijoji probably changed the computer codes by now," Yolei frowned, "He's like that."

"Who cares?" Hiroshi snapped, "What about our prize?"

Daemon grinned. "Hikari Kamiya is currently being held in the infirmary under heavy guard. She hasn't awoken yet, but we're waiting for the time when she does."

The Dark SEED lord nodded. "Excellent. When those other Digidestined come to rescue her, you'll make sure they're thoroughly destroyed, yes?"

"Of course."

"Good. Inoe!"

"Sir!" she saluted.

"Head towards the Forest of Shattered Light at once. Motomiya's group is about to liberate the Key Cards from those religious zealots, the Cult of Darkness."

"If you don't mind me saying," Daemon said, "I am surprised."

"Daemon," Hiroshi said, "You were my first Dark Lord, tell me, have I ever ordered you to worship me?"

He thought, then shook his head. "No."

"I may want to be followed as a king, but not worshiped as a God," the Dark SEED lord said, "Now, keep me informed. Hiroshi out." The screen blanked.

Daemon turned to Yolei. "Leave now, let me deal with your former friends."

She bowed. "Good luck, sir."

The Dark SEED general chuckled, "The Digidestined are the ones that are going to need luck."

Outside, Tk and his small group had made their way to the island in the center of the water. "Are you sure it was a good idea to leave the _Boreas_ out in the open like that?" Cody asked.

Ken nodded. "I upgraded the security system." He smiled slightly, "You could say I changed the locks. I also installed a remote for the doors. We don't have to be inside in order to open them anymore."

Cody nodded. "I just hope it's waiting for us when we get back."

"If we get back," Armadillomon shivered as he stared up at the giant black tower in front of them.

"Don't say that, Armadillomon," Cody said, "You're just making things worse."

The group stopped in the front of the large double, black doors. Tk took a deep breath, "Let's go."

They threw open the doors and ran into the darkened hallway. If they had stayed outside for another minute, they would have seen Yolei riding atop Aquillamon, leaving the tower.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis's group was experiencing a similar feeling as they approached the Temple of Darkness. It resembled a large black cathedral with statues of gargoyles hidden near the pointed top. "Jeeze!" Davis gasped, "This place looks like a tomb or something."

"You mean a mausoleum," Catherine corrected.

"Yeah, whatever it's called," he mumbled.

Kunemon cleared his throat. "So, you're still planning on going into that place?"

"We have to," Veemon replied.

The yellow caterpillar digimon jumped off of Davis's shoulder. "Well, I wish you all the luck in the world. See ya!" He charged out of the area as fast as his little legs could take him.

"Who needs him anyway?" Davis asked, "Come on, let's go."

They walked up to the entrance of the temple and saw a group of Bakemon floating outside. Just like the other ghost digimon in the village, they did not seem to care that there was a group of humans walking between them. They did notice them, however.

"What are you doing here?" one of them asked.

"You idiot!" another one shouted, "They're here to pay tribute to the great God of Darkness." He gave them an odd look, "That is why you're here, right?"

"Right," Crabmon said, "We're kinda new in the Cult of Darkness, can you tell us more about your God?"

"Sure," the Bakemon grinned, "We were drawn together by Myotismon, but after he was destroyed by the Digidestined, we wandered the Digital World until _he_ appeared."

"Who?"

"Our human God. He came and gave us food and water. He gave us a purpose again, and he will smite our enemies!"

"But who iz your God?" Catherine asked.

The ghost shook his head. "No, to say his name is punishable by death! I can't."

"Thanks," Davis growled.

"If you want to know more, go inside."

He stared up at the dark gapping hole that was the entrance. "I guess we've got no choice, huh?"

They walked past the group of ghost digimon and entered the Temple of Darkness. Inside was a long dark tunnel that disappeared into the shadows. "Zis place lookz very cozy," Catherine shuttered.

"Yeah," Derek muttered, "They probably got the idea from a cave or somethin'."

The group continued in silence until the dark hallway suddenly changed into something less plain. It became decorated with paintings and statues of hideous digimon.

"What the heck are those digimon?" Davis asked.

Veemon shook his head. "I don't have any idea."

"They're horrendous!" Floramon shivered.

The group was once again silent as they continued to travel through the halls. "Hey Davis," Derek asked, "There's somethin' I've been wantin' ta ask ya."

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "You and those Gauntlets you took from Diaboromon."

"What about them?"

"Well, are you sure you can handle 'em?"

Davis stopped and stared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

He held up his palms. "Woah there!" he said, "I'm just sayin', remember what happened ta Kari? She's not exactly a weaklin' herself."

The goggle-wearer sighed. "Yeah. I've been worried about that too. I mean, she was Tai, he should have been able to handle that kind of power, right?"

Derek and Catherine looked at each other. "Ya don't know much about our history, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

Catherine sighed. "When we were ztill fighting Etemon, he attacked uz wiz anot'er Greymon. Tai put himself in danger zo he could make Greymon digivolve." She shook her head, "Hiz arrogance caused Greymon to digivolve into Skullgreymon."

Veemon gasped. "Kari did the same thing with Persphemon!"

"Right," Derek nodded.

"Don't worry, Davis," Veemon said, patting his partner's back as best he could, "I know you'll do fine."

"Yeah," he said.

"Shouldn't we keep moving?" Floramon asked.

Davis shook his head. "Right, let's go."

They continued on their way until they could hear the sound of voices. They slowly crept along the wall until the dark hallway began to grow a small amount lighter. The source of the illumination turned out to be a room filled with giant candles, as well as an impressive amount of Bakemon and bat digimon. They were staring at the front of the room, but none of the digidestined could see what was there, as the Devidramon were blocking their view.

Crabmon mentioned to a small balcony located near the ceiling. "Maybe we should try up there? I bet it'll give us a perfect view."

"Good thinking," Davis smiled, "There's probably a staircase or something, back there. Come on."

They journeyed back through the tunnel and searched the right wall until they found a wooden door. Behind it was a staircase, which, just as Davis predicted, led them to the small balcony. From this point, they could see the entire assemblage of dark digimon, now all kneeling to the front of the room, where a large stone statue was overlooking a large rectangular stone table. Onto the platform came a Phantomon and a Bakemon that was larger then a normal Bakemon, with dark claws that were pushing out of his white sleeves and a flowing cape. Both of them hovered over to the rectangular stone table.

Floramon gasped. "He has the Key Cards!"

The others watched with extreme interest as the Bakemon laid the Key Cards onto the table. He raised his hands and the dark digimon began to hum. "Praise to you, God of Darkness!"

Phantomon swung his scythe in front of him. "We pray and give tribute to our lord and master! We were doomed, collapsing, dying. But then _He_ arrived. Our _new_ master, our new God!" He pointed to the statue and the Cult of Darkness began to chant along with him, "_Khul nu kappi par! Khul nu kappi par!"_

The Digidestined stared at the statue, the marble statue of a human man with long hair. He was wearing what appeared to be a hooded trench coat, but any differentiating facial features were not present. "That guy is still giving me the creeps though," Veemon shivered.

Phantomon turned to face the large ghost digimon who was presiding over the cards. "Lord Bakemon, began the chant."

Lord Bakemon began to move his black hands over the cards. "Great masters of darkness, the dark angel Lucemon, Lilithmon, Leviamon, Beelzemon, Barbamon, Demonand the mightiest one of all, the great demon master, Belphemon! Give us the strength of evil! Use these cards to bring us the darkness our God requires! Great demon lords, I call upon thee!"

The Cult of Darkness continued to chant. "Great demon lords, give us your darkness. Great demon lords, give us you darkness!"

Lord Bakemon opened his hands as the Key Cards began to glow a dark light. The Digidestined and their partner stared with wide eyes as the dark energy flowed into the Cult of Darkness. Lord Bakemon ended his chant. Phantomon and Lord Bakemon took the nine key cards and placed them on the statue of their god: one on each hand, one on each shoulder, one on each knee, two around the waist and the final one on the top of the head. The two ultimate digimon bowed. "May these cards power you, my god," Lord Bakemon said. He turned to face the members. "Go, the service is over."

The members of the Cult of Darkness disappeared into the hallway. Phantomon and Lord Bakemon exited through the same door on the side of the platform. Soon, the room was empty. "Now's our chance," Davis said, "Come on."

They snuck back down the staircase and into the alter room. The goggle-wearer turned to the others. "Wait here."

"Be careful," Catherine said.

He grinned. "I always am. Just wait here. Come on, Veemon." They walked through the church and over to the statue. "How are we going to get the ones at the top?"

"No problem, Davis," Veemon smiled, "Just let me climb onto your shoulders."

The goggle-wearer grumbled. "You're not exactly light you know."

"Yeah, yeah." The blue digimon climbed onto his partner's shoulder and was able to just reach the Key Card on the statue's head. He grabbed the two on the shoulders and jumped onto the ground. Davis grabbed the remainder of the cards and ran over to the other digidestined. "Got 'em."

"Great," Derek said, watching as the goggle-wearer shoved the cards into his backpack, "Come on, let's get our arses out of here." They turned to run when they saw Phantomon return to the church room.

"Intruders! You will not get away!" Phantomon warned, pointing his scythe at them.

"Run!" Davis shouted.

They shot around to run down the hall, but saw that Lord Bakemon had appeared. "What's this?" he asked, "Leaving so soon?"

Davis growled. "I guess we've got no choice. We'll have to fight our way out." He grabbed his digivice, "Now!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon! Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon! Kiwimon digivolve to Blossumon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Coelemon!"

Lord Bakemon and Phantomon cringed. "Oh no," the ghost lord said, "They've got two Ultimates."

"Yes," Phantomon replied, "Looks like we'll have to show them our little skill."

"You're right," Lord Bakemon grinned.

"What are you two talking about?" Paildramon asked.

"Watch," Phantomon grinned. His body began to glow in synch with Lord Bakemon's. "Phantomon…"

"Lord Bakemon…"

"…Fusion digivolve to Necromyotismon!" A new figure stood in their place, one that was a skeleton dressed in Myotismon's clothes, but torn and shredded.

"Necro Myotismon?" Coelemon gasped, "I never heard of that digimon before!"

"Come to think of it," Blossumon said, "I never heard of a _Lord_ Bakemon either!"

Necromyotismon started to laugh. "Our dark rituals allowed us to create new evolutionary forms! Now, enough talking, prepare to be deleted! Unholy Scream!" He opened his mouth and shrieked in a high pitched tone that caused the digimon to drop to their knees.

"I can't stand it!" Coelemon shouted, covering his ears, "Make it stop!"

Blossumon pushed herself up from the ground as best she could. She stared at the screaming beast. "Spiral Flower!" she shouted, firing beams of lasers from her eyes. While many missed, one did struck Necromyotismon, throwing him off balance. The screams stopped, allowing the digimon to regain themselves.

"Payback time!" Coelemon grinned, "Fossil Bite!" He fired a hail of sharp needles into Necromyotismon's chest. He flinched back under the pain.

"Wow," Coelemon gasped, "I can't believe that actually hurt you."

Necromyotismon grinned. "Well, not as much as you think. Now it's time to die!" He slashed his bony claw across the aquatic digimon.

"Coelemon!" Paildramon shouted, "Hang on!" He clenched his hand into fists and the blades on the back of wrist shot out. "Sting Strike!" He used these blades to slash Necromyotismon's chest, agitating his previous injury. Necromyotismon grabbed the dragon man's neck with his bony hands, which were surprisingly powerful.

"Paildramon!" Davis gasped.

"Blozzoumon!" Catherine shouted, "Zave him!"

The Ultimate plant digimon shot her tentacles into Necromyotismon's back, "Thorn Whips!"

The evil digimon gave a yelp, but did not release his grip on Paildramon. Instead, he spun around and used him to knock Blossoumon into the wall.

"Blozzoumon!" Catherine shouted, "Are you okay?"

The Ultimate digimon stood back up. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

"Me too!" Coelemon grinned.

"Ha!" Necromyotismon laughed, "If you even think about attacking me, I'll crush Paildramon's windpipe!"

Paildramon ignored the pain and brought his legs up and slammed both of his feet into Necromyotismon's chest, throwing him backwards. The dragon man was able to free himself, and jumped back to stand next to Blossoumon and Coelemon.

"Why don't you just give up now?" Davis asked, "You're not gonna win!"

Necromyotismon laughed in his soulless voice. "You will not defeat me. Unholy Scream!"

"Not again!" Coelemon shouted, trying to cover his ears.

The Digidestined were affect as well, falling onto the ground, clapping their hands over their ears. "How can we fight this guy?" Derek shouted.

Davis stared at Paildramon, then at the screaming Necromyotismon. He realized that only one thing might save them now. With great effort to stand the screaming noise, he reached into his backpack and removed the twin Holy Gauntlets.

"Paildramon!" he shouted, over the roar of Necromyotismon's scream. "We're gonna have to try the gauntlets! Are you ready?"

"I don't know, Davis!" he shouted back, "We never tried that before!"

"We have to!" he shouted, placing the Gauntlets over his hands, "Ready?"

The dragon digimon stood up and opened his arms. "All right!"

Davis pointed his gauntlets towards his partner, awaiting for the weapon to activate. "What's going on here?" he gasped, "Why isn't this working? Come on, come on!" The gauntlets remained as they were. "Why won't this work? Come on, I've got the Crest of Miracles, and we really need one right now!"

Underneath of his shirt, the Crest of Miracles began to glow a dark gold. Davis grinned. "Yes! Now, let's try this again." He pointed his gauntlets towards Paildramon, "Now!" The Holy Gauntlets began to glow and fired a beam of light into Paildramon, drawing the two partners together. They exploded in a burst of light, revealing a new, single figure, one that resembled an adult Davis wearing black and green armor, with one set of blue wings at the shoulders and another set of white wings near the waist. On his hands were the Holy Gauntlets. Davis/Paildramon stood defiantly as Necromyotismon's Unholy Scream passed over him. He charged forward and tackled the screaming digimon into the ground.

"How dare you?" he shouted, "Feel my true power! Vengeance of the Underworld!" A stream of transparent hands shot out of his chest and smashed into Davis/Paildramon, but the fused human/digimon remained perfectly still.

"No!" Necromyotismon gasped, "No!"

"Necromyotimson," Davis/Paildramon said, "This is the end of your sick rituals." He shot forward and, with a swipe of his claw, sent the evil digimon into the far wall. The familiar twin gun barrels shot out from behind his back. "Desperado Blaster!"

Necromyotismon screamed as the glowing bullets tore into his body, the impact causing him to dig even deeper into wall. Soon, he was completely buried. Davis/Paildramon turned and regressed back to Davis and Demiveemon. They walked back to join their cheering friends.

"_Tres Bien!"_ Catherine grinned, lightly kissing Davis on the check, "You are amazing!"

Derek slapped Davis on the back, "Way ta' go, mate. Great job."

"You were really good out there," Yocomon said.

Demiveemon blushed. "Heh, yeah."

"Come on," Davis said, "Let's get out of here."

They ran out of the Temple of Darkness, only to stop short when they came face-to-face, with a large brown eagle with a familiar caterpillar digimon in his massive beak. "Aquillamon?" Davis gasped.

"And he's got Kunemon in his mouth!" Demiveemon gasped.

"Wait," Derek said, "If Aquillamon's here, then doesn't that mean..?"

"If you're looking for me," Yolei grinned, stepping around from Aquillamon's legs, "I'm right here."

Davis growled. "What do you want?"

"Those Key Cards," she said, "And if you don't, Aquillamon will end Kunemon's short life."

"Forget it!" the goggle-wearer shouted, "We won't stand for that!"

Yolei chuckled as she pointed at the ground. "I think your digimon are going to be out of commission for a while."

"Huh?" Davis asked. He looked to the ground and saw that the In-training digimon were having a difficult time standing. "What's wrong?"

"Too tired," Demiveemon said, "We used too much energy fighting Necromyotismon."

Davis growled as he stared at her. He looked up at Kunemon, still trapped in Aquillamon's beack. "All right." He reached into his backpack and pulled out the nine cards. He gave a final look at the small deck before throwing them into her hands. "There!"

The purple-haired girl nodded. "Much obliged." She jumped onto her partner's back as the large eagle threw Kunemon into Davis's hands. "Oh, one more thing," she said, as Aquillamon began to fly into the sky, "I'd look behind you if I were you. Farewell."

"What's she talking about?" Davis asked. He looked over his shoulder into the Temple of Darkness and saw a wave of Bakemon and Devidramon flying straight towards them, with Necromyotismon leading them. "Oh no."

He looked down at his partner. "Demiveemon?"

The small digimon shook his head. "Sorry, not until I eat something and take a nap."

" Davis," Catherine said, holding Yocomon in her arms, "I think we zhould run."

"I'm with her," Derek added.

The goggle-wearer grabbed Demiveemon and charged away from the approaching army, "Sounds like a good idea to me."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Back in Darkness Falls, Tk's group walked through the hallways of Daemon's tower, ignoring the screams and cries that they heard from beneath the floors. Cody flinched and shivered at each moan and shriek in terror. He seemed very agitated as they traveled through the halls.

"Cody," Tk said, "We can't."

"But…"

"Listen, I don't want to leave anyone here either, but we've got to find Kari. The entire future and safety of the Digital World, and even Earth, depends on _her!_ We've got to save her, at all costs."

"What do you mean?" Ken asked.

He shook his head. "It's…it's nothing. We've got to keep looking." As he led them down the hall, he thought, _"I can't tell them what was in that file that Tatum gave me. I'm not even sure _I_ should have been told, but Kari needs to know. She needs to know about her destiny."_

They continued in silence until they came to an intersection with another hall. "I hear someone coming," Tk whispered, "Be quiet."

They pressed themselves as far as they could against the wall and watched as an older man wearing a lap coat passed by. "Tk," Patamon whispered, "Isn't that the doctor that did tests on you and Kari?"

"Yeah," he said, "I bet he knows where Kari is." The blond boy waited until the man had passed before grabbing him and pulling him until the arms of Cody and Ken, who held him as best they could.

"What's the meaning of this?" he gasped.

"Dr. Yazuna," Tk said, "Do you remember me?"

"The Digimon Emperor," he gasped, "W..what are you doing here?"

"I want Kari Kamiya!" he said, "Where is she?"

"I..I don't know.."

"Don't lie to me!" Tk hissed, "I know you know where she is! Now lead us to her, or you'll be resting at the bottom of that lake outside!"

He swallowed and nodded. "S..sure, follow me." He began to walk down the hall; Tk looked over his shoulder and breathed a small sigh of relief, letting the others know that he would not have followed through on his threats.

Yazuna lead them through the winding maze of the tower until they reached a black, metal door. "She's behind here."

"Open it," Tk ordered.

Yazuna did as he was told and opened the door to reveal a room that looked very similar to a hospital room. Lying in the center, strapped to the table, was Kari, her eyes shut tight. At her side, lying on a similar table was Salamon, unconscious as well. Tk ran past Yazuna and gasped. "Kari!" he called, laying a hand on her forehead, "Kari, please, wake up."

He suddenly realized that Yazuna might have done something to her. He spun around to demand an answer, but stopped when he saw a towering figure stepping into the room. "Cody! Ken! Look out!"

The other members of his group spun around, and, upon seeing the figure, jumped into the center of the room to stand next to Tk. The Digidestined and their digimon partners stared fiercely at this creature. "You must be Daemon I presume?" Tk asked.

"That is correct, Takeru Takashi, or should I say Yamato Ishida?" he chuckled.

Tk stared at him, straight at the glowing eyes under his hood. "Let us leave here, now!"

Daemon laughed. "You're not going to fool me as easily as that pathetic doctor here." He kicked Yazuna out the door. "You see, I know that you've lost your blood lust since you gave up being the Digimon Emperor."

Tk hesitated. "Let us leave with Kari, now!"

"Ha!" Daemon laughed, "Do you honestly think I'm letting you leave with my prize? Once I do to her what I did to Yolei Inoe, Dark SEED will last forever!"

"No!" Tk shouted, grabbing his digivice, "Patamon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon! Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

The Ultimate angel shot towards Daemon, swinging his wrist-based sword. The Dark SEED general laughed as he easily blocked the blade with his forearm. "Did you think you could stop me with that?"

"No, but I think this will hurt." The angel brought his foot around and kicked Daemon's side with all of his might. The evil mega flipped onto the ground, leaving the exit wide-open. Magna Angemon did not give him the chance to get back there either, as he began attacking with more jabs of his sword. Daemon was on the defensive.

Ken grabbed his own digivice. "Wormmon, get ready to.."

"No!" Tk ordered, "Get Kari and Salamon back to the ship."

"No!" Cody protested.

"Yeah," Armadillomon added, "We're not gonna leave ya' here!"

"Don't worry," Tk grinned, "Even though Magna Angemon's a level below Daemon, he's still a holy vaccine fighting against a virus. I think Magna Angemon might be able to win, but rescuing Kari's our top priority. Get her to the _Boreas_, now!"

"All right," Ken said, "but as soon as she's safe, we're coming back. Cody, give me a hand."

The younger boy helped place the unconscious Kari onto Ken's back and then grabbed a hold of Salamon. Tk kept his eyes on the battle between Daemon and Magna Angemon, waiting until the evil mega was far too absorbed in keeping himself alive. "Go, now!"

Ken nodded and ran as best he could out the door. Cody and the digimon soon followed. "No!" Daemon shouted, pushing Magna Angemon to the side as he shot to the exit of the room. He was stopped when Magna Angemon appeared in front of him and slammed his fist into his face. He fell onto the ground and skidded until he crashed into a cluster of mechanical equipment. The Dark SEED general roared and jumped onto his feet.

"I've had enough of this!" he shouted. He placed both of his palms together, creating a ball of fire between them. "Evil Inferno!"

Magna Angemon screamed in pain as the blast of fire ripped across his body. Daemon used this chance to escape into the hall. Tk screamed to his partner to go after the evil mega, and Magna Angemon obeyed, flying straight after Daemon.

"You don't give up, do it?" he laughed, firing another Evil Inferno directly into Magna Angemon's chest, throwing him back into the wall of the 'hospital room.' This caused the entire room to shake, jarring lose sections of the ceiling that buried the only door, leaving Magna Angemon and Tk trapped inside.

"Ha!" Daemon laughed, "What a weakling." He grinned as he stared at Ken, Cody and their digimon, running in a vain attempt to escape him. With simple ease, he flew towards them at great speed.

"Ken!" Wormmon shouted, "He's coming!"

The black-haired boy sided and placed Kari onto the ground. "Ken?" Cody asked.

"We'll never out run him, we have to fight him now." He grabbed his digivice, "Right?"

Cody nodded, reaching for his own digivice as well. "Right."

Ken nodded and pointed his digivice at Wormmon. "Now!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

Daemon roared with laughter. "Do you think you puny digimon stand a chance against me!"

Neither Champion digimon said a word as they charged into battle. Daemon easily backhanded Stingmon into the wall, then did the same with Ankylomon. Both digimon were lying in a pile on the ground, unmoving. "That team work may have worked against Diaboromon, but I am of a much higher strength level!" Daemon grinned, "Champions cannot defeat me." He turned to where Ken and Cody were standing defiantly in front of the unconscious Kari. "Now, to reclaim what was taken from me."

"No!" Ken shouted, "Stay back!"

Daemon ignored him as he stepped closer. Cody knelt down and started to shake the brown-haired girl. "Kari..Kari! You've got to wake up! Kari, please, wake up!"

_Kari suddenly found herself wandered through a black void. "Hello!" she shouted, "Is anyone there?"_

_"Kari, is that you?"_

_She turned around and saw a familiar digimon charging towards her. "Salamon," she grinned, "I'm glad you're here with me."_

_The small digimon looked around. "But, where are we?"_

_Kari shook her head. "I don't know."_

_A male voice broke through the silence, "Don't you? I think you should."_

_The two girls looked to the source of the voice, a young boy wearing a blue t-shirt, baggy shorts, sporting a wild mane of brown hair. At his side was a small orange dinosaur. Kari and Salamon stared with wide eyes at the two males. "Who..who are you?" Kari gasped._

_The boy looked confused. "You don't know? I'm Tai and this is Agumon."_

_"But you can't be Tai!" she protested, "_I'm_ Tai!"_

_"Yes," he nodded, "And I am you, just as Agumon here is Salamon."_

_The small digimon gasped. "You mean, I'm really…?"_

_"Yes," Agumon answered, "All the digimon partnered to the reborn digidestined are their original partners. Hawkmon is really Biyomon, Wormmon was once Tentomon, and, well, you get the idea."_

_Kari stared at Salamon. "You were Agumon?"_

_She nodded. "I guess so, but it's really no big deal for digimon. I mean, we change into different bodies all the time. I could have digivolved into a male digimon instead of a girl like Gatomon, so it's really no big deal."_

_Kari shook her head. "Fine, but that still doesn't explain how we're all able to be here. I mean, if I'm Tai, and you're Tai, then…how can that be?"_

_"Simple," the boy answered, "We're in the landscape of our mind."_

_Kari mentioned to the digimon. "How can they be here?"_

_"Digimon and Digidestined are connected," Agumon answered, "Sometimes we can appear in each other's mind, like this. I wouldn't try it though, it's really hard when we're both conscious, too many different thoughts."_

_"Wait," Salamon said, pointing at Tai, "You look a lot younger then Kari is."_

_He smiled. "That's because right now, we are sixteen, but when we were in the Digital World the first time, we were only eleven."_

_"Could you please stop with that 'we' stuff?" Kari asked, "It's getting very confusing. Okay, if we're the same person, then what are you doing here?"_

_Tai's smiled faded. "Persephemon."_

_Kari flinched. "Oh."_

_"Remember Skullgreymon?" Tai asked, "Remember how we-er, how _I_ wanted to make Agumon digivolve to his Ultimate form so badly? How I forced it on him?"_

_Kari searched through her memories. "Yeah."_

_"You experienced the very same problem. You were jealous of __Davis__." _

_She gasped. "J..jealous?"_

_"Yeah. Jealous because you felt that he was taking your place. You wanted to be better then him, you wanted to be the first to use your Holy Weapon, so you forced a digivolution on Angemon, just as I did to Agumon."_

_Kari nodded. "You're..you're right. You're right, I am jealous of __Davis__, but that's because he _is_ taking my place! He's becoming the hero that you once were!"_

_"Weather that is true or not is not the point," Tai said, " __Davis__ may take the powers of Tai, but you are not Tai."_

_She stared at him with a confused look in her eyes. "I'm not?"_

_"Not anymore. You may have once been Tai, but you are Kari now."_

_"So, I've got to put aside my past?"_

_He shook his head. "No, never forget who you are, never erase your past, but, just because you remember doesn't mean you have to act that way. Never forget that you are Tai, but don't let it rule your life here and now. You are Kari now. Stop competing with __Davis__. He may act like me, but you, Kari, are _you_! Understand?"_

_She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I think so. I'll never forget being Tai, but I'm Kari now." She took a deep breath, "And just because __Davis__ is the heir to the Courage powers, doesn't mean I'm any less important now."_

_Tai grinned. "Great, you've finally got it. Now, you'd better go, the others need you."_

_Kari nodded. "Yeah." She smiled, "I'm Kari Kamiya, and I'm back!"_

Daemon grinned as he flew towards Ken and Cody, with his black claws outstretched. "Prepare to die!" He brought his black claw down, ready to slice open the three humans, when a bright orange light emanated from the fallen brown-haired girl. "This light!" he screamed, covering his eyes, "This light! It burns!"

He moved his claws slightly so he could see Angewomon suddenly appear before him. Behind her was Kari, standing on her two feet, pointing her digivice and her Crest of Courage at her partner. "Daemon," she said, "Your time is over."

The rubble behind him suddenly exploded, revealing the fused Tk/Magna Angemon. "She's right, Daemon," he said, "Give up now."

He stared at Angewomon, then looked over his shoulder at Tk/Magna Angemon. "You don't scare me!"

"I think we should," Angewomon said. She placed both her palms together and quickly pulled them apart, sending a wave of light energy at Daemon. "Heaven's Charm!"

Behind him, Tk/Magna Angemon pointed their wrist-based Holy Sword at the demon, and fired a series of glowing sabers at him. "Excalibur!"

Daemon hissed in pain as both attacks slammed into him. When the light faded, his robe had been torn in odd places, but for the most part, he remained none the worse for wear. He shot towards Angewomon and grabbed her ankle. "Let her go!" Tk/Magna Angemon shouted, shooting down the hall. Daemon grinned and he swung Angewomon around and threw her into the fused human. Both of them became entangled as they fell to the floor.

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, holding up her still glowing Crest of Courage, "Don't give up!"

The two angels separated themselves and hovered in the air while staring at Daemon. The staring contest continued for five minutes before Angewomon finally shot forward. Daemon laughed and relaxed his guard. "Ha! You can't defeat me! Ha ha!"

Angewomon grinned and, at the last second, twisted out of the way to reveal Tk/Magna Angemon heading towards him. The fused human/digimon swung his Holy Sword across Daemon's chest. The evil mega roared out in pain as he stumbled backwards. Tk/Magna Angemon did not stop their assault as they used their other fist to slam his face into the wall.

"Great job," Angewomon said, "Now give me a chance."

The fused human/digimon jumped out of the way to reveal to Daemon the tip of Angewomon's glowing arrow pointed straight at him. "Celestial Arrow!"

Daemon screamed as the projectile pierced through his chest. He fell to the ground, clutching the gapping hole in his abdomen. Tk/Magna Angemon hovered into the air. "Allow me to finish this." He swung his sword around in a perfect circle, creating a criss-cross gate, which opened to a white tunnel. "Gate of Destiny!"

"No!" Daemon screamed, as he struggled to break free of the vacuum pull. "I will not go! I refuse to!" He tried with all his might, but Tk/Magna Angemon's attack was too powerful, and soon pulled him inside. The evil Dark SEED general screams vanished as the gate shut and dissolved into nothingness.

Tk/Magna Angemon descended to the ground and regressed back to Tk and Tokomon. Angewomon regressed to Nyaromon and landed in Kari's arms. "Kari!" Tk shouted, running over to her, "Kari, are you okay?"

The brown-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. No, wait, I'm better then that," she grinned.

"Kari," Cody said, "It's great to have you back."

"Likewise," Ken smiled, "We missed you."

"Yeah," Wormmon added from Ken's shoulder, "Just wait to you hear what we had to do to get here." Before he could tell her, however, a female's voice shouted to them.

"There isn't time for that now."

"Huh?" they all asked, turning to look down the hall. A girl with light brown braided hair ran towards them.

"Thank goodness I found you!"

"Tatum!" Tk gasped, "W..what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" she panted, obviously out of breath, "Your friends need your help!"

"Davis?" Ken asked.

Tatum nodded. "Yes, quick!"

"But we don't know where they are!" Armadillomon protested.

"I do," she replied, "Come on."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Catherine panted as she struggled to keep herself from falling onto her face, "I..I can't run anymore!" she shouted.

"We don't exactly have a choice!" Davis shouted, trying to keep himself from falling flat onto his face. How he wished he could just fall onto the ground and sleep for the next fifty years, but if the Cult of Darkness got to them, he would be sleeping forever.

"No, you don't understand," the blond girl said, "I can't keep running. Just leave me here." She stopped running and fell onto her face.

"Catherine!" Yocomon shouted, "Catherine!"

"Oh no!" Derek panted, kneeling beside her.

Davis gasped. "She's not…?"

The other boy shook his head. "I think she's asleep."

Davis stared as the Cult of Darkness stopped in front of them, with Necromyotismon grinning wickedly. "I have you now, don't I?"

"But we don't have the Key Cards," Davis protested, "They were stolen…"

"Ha!" Necromyotismon laughed, "You really expect me to believe that?" He stepped closer, his bony claws all ready free of his long sleeves.

Suddenly, a loud noise roared from above them. Everyone looked up to see the dark leaves of the trees swaying fiercely. As the noise became louder, the tree trunks themselves began to creak.

"What is that?" Necromyotismon demanded.

The noise became so loud that that the sound waves alone were causing the ground to shake. The trees trunk themselves soon shattered, sending the dark leaves of the canopy flying in all directions. Sunlight exploded into the dark forest, causing the members of the Cult of Darkness to recoil in pain. Necromyotismon, however, stood firmly as he stared at the object lowering through the gap in the canopy. "Is that a ship with wings?"

"The _Boreas?"_ Derek gasped.

"Just great!" Davis growled, "Now we've got to fight Ladydevimon, too?"

The airship descended to the ground, generating so much wind that Davis's group, as well as the Cult of Darkness, were thrown around on the ground. A section on the bottom of the ship opened and Stingmon and Tatum riding on Airdramon shot down to the digidestined. The insect digimon grabbed Davis, Demiveemon, Derek and Crabmon, while Tatum grabbed Catherine and Yocomon. Once they had their passengers, they flew back into the _Boreas_ as the ship disappearing into the sky.

"What just happened?" Necromyotismon demanded.

"This is still so unbelievable!" Kari exclaimed as she walked around the bridge of the _Boreas_, "We actually have this ship now!"

"Yeah," Tk said with a smile, "It was a real steal."

"This is so cool!" Davis grinned, "This is really ours?"

"Yeah," Ken said, "I've reprogrammed the security system, it's ours all right."

"Thank you for your help, Tatum," Kari said, bowing in front of her.

"It was no problem," the other girl grinned.

"But Yolei stole the Key Cards," Catherine sighed.

"And all of the Destiny Stones have been destroyed," Cody said.

"Yes," Tatum nodded, "Hiroshi has everything he needs. We must stop him at once!"

Ken sat down at the seat in front of the main console, "Just tell me where he is."

"We have to go back to Darkness Falls. Dark SEED's base is there."

"Good," Tk said, "That gives us time to talk. Tatum, I want to know who you are and how you know me."

The braided-haired girl sighed. "I guess I can't run this time, huh? Very well, I will tell you."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Kari has been rescued, but with the Destiny Stones destroyed and Dark SEED in possession of the Key Cards, Hiroshi can complete his plans. Only the Digidestined can stop him. _

_Next: "Dark SEED: Heroic Warriors." Only light can defeat the darkness. _


	15. Dark SEED: Heroic Warriors

Ken here. Davis, Catherine and Derek were able to steal the Key Cards from the Cult of Darkness, Davis and Paildramon merged together and defeated the cult leader, Necromyotismon, but Yolei was able to take the cards from Davis right afterwards. Meanwhile, Tk, Cody and Ken were able to rescue Kari and Angewomon and Tk/Magna Angemon defeated Daemon. Now we have Tatum on our side and we're heading to Dark SEED headquarters to stop Hiroshi before he completes his plans. The entire Digital World is depending on us!

Dark SEED: Heroic Warriors

The _Boreas_ continued on its voyage towards the evil mountains region of the Digital World known as Darkness Falls. There, the passengers of the airship, the Digidestined, would have to face their enemies, Dark SEED, to stop them from completing their evil plans, and rescue this world. However, the Digidestined were currently more interested in the story of their newest member.

Tk said, "That gives us time to talk. Tatum, I want to know who you are and how you know me."

The braided-haired girl sighed. "I guess I can't run this time, huh? Very well, I will tell you."

"Is Tatum your real name?" Davis blurted out. The others stared at him.

"Yes," the braided-haired girl smiled, "And if you're wondering, I'm just as old as you are, as of right now."

"What do you mean by that?" Kari asked.

"I know your memories of your past life aren't all there, but I was with you, I mean, when you were your past selves, I was there too."

"You were!" Ken gasped, "You're a reincarnated Digidestined too?"

She shook her head. "No, I was not a digidestined in my past life, that might be why you don't really remember me." She looked at Tk. "But, Matt, I'm surprised that you don't remember me, after all, you were the one that found me."

"I was?" he asked.

Tatum nodded. "Yup. After Tai returned to Earth after beating Etemon, you all split it. Matt found me and rescued me from being killed by a group of evil digimon. I was with you the entire time you fought against Myotismon, and then I was mysteriously pulled back with you in your fight with the Dark Masters." She sighed slightly, "I don't really remember after that, but I assume I died at the same time you did. However, by the time I was five, I had already remembered much about my past life."

"But why were you in the Digital World to begin with?" Cody asked.

"Because of my father," she said. "I mean, the father of my previous life. He was a scientist, a computer technician to be exact. He was trying to find a way into the Digital World, but one of his colleges found my father's notes and wanted that world for himself. He was a computer programmer, like my father, but he was also into dark magic, the occult, that sort of thing. He used this mystic knowledge and, in a dark ceremony, was able to open a gate to the Digital World. My father tried to stop him, but got pulled in too."

She sighed deeply and continued. "I, of course, didn't know about any of this until my father contacted me through my own computer. I was accidentally pulled in, and there I found that my father had become very old. He told me that time in the Digital World moved much faster then on Earth, and while he had only been gone a year on Earth, in the Digital World, fifty years had passed. He told me that a great evil had tried to enter the Digital World, but was repelled by a group of children. He knew that evil was bound to return, so he created an order of guardians to protect the Digital World, and hid tags and crests for a new group of children. After he died, I was determined to help those children, but something else happened first."

"So that's why you wear the same robes as Geni and Ryo," Patamon said.

"But how come Geni and Ryo didn't know who you were?" Kari asked, "I mean, if your father created the order, then they should have known about you, right?"

She smiled slightly. "Remember, that was my past life."

"Right," the brown-haired girl said, "But, why did you steal the Crest of Reliability?"

Tatum looked to the ground and sighed. She hesitated; then said, "Sometimes you need to do desperate things in desperate times. I needed a way for my digimon to get stronger." She looked down at Betamon, "I knew I wasn't going to be able to help you if I didn't have enough power. Ryo and Genai didn't know who I was, they weren't going to give a Crest to me."

Kari sighed. "Well, I don't think you should have stolen it, but you have helped us, so I guess I'll take your word for it."

"What about the sword?" Tk asked.

Tatum nodded. "Yes, of course. After I got my digivice, I remembered bits and pieces of my past life. I opened a gate and went into the Digital World, but I found you again. We..uh.. 'rediscovered' ourselves, and traveled together for a bit. I don't know where you got the Holy Sword from, but you gave it to me and told me to keep it safe. You could feel that evil was overtaking your body, and you didn't want to have that kind of power. I held on to it, but I really wanted to help you. You wouldn't let me, and even forced me back to Earth. When I was able to get back into the Digital World, you were all ready the Digimon Emperor."

"I've got a question," Derek said, "You just said that you tried ta find us, but somethin' happened first. What?"

Her smile grew. "The reason my father was trying to find a way into the Digital World, was because my grandfather disappeared into it. And so, after burying my father, I tried to find you, but someone found my way to this beach, which acted as some kind of gate, allowing me to pass into _another_ reality, almost like another Earth, which had its own digidestined. My grandfather was there. I really don't remember too much, but I did help them in some way, then I returned on my mission to find you."

"Zo," Catherine said, "What was your name?"

"Alice McCoy."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Hiroshi nodded to himself as he walked through the large room with Penmon at his side. The Dark SEED leader grinned as he turned to the left side of the room. The hearts from the Destiny Stones of Forest, Fire and Earth were resting on metal pedestals, while the remaining hearts from the Stones of Light, Water, and Wind were resting on pedestals on the right side of the room. Attached to the center of the high ceiling was a cylinder shaped object, with the bottom of a diamond pointing towards the ground, and another diamond shaped piece pointing towards the far wall, which contained two large double doors. The key cards were placed over the door in a specific pattern.. The Dark SEED leader turned to Yuehon, who was currently working on the object hanging from the ceiling. "How much longer?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," the Chinese girl called.

Hiroshi grinned. "Great. Do it!"

Yuehon jumped off of the object and landed on a balcony that ran along all four walls. She placed her hand on a switch attached to the wall and pulled. Instantly, the six Destiny Stone hearts started to glow brightly, firing a beam of light into the large diamond-shaped object in the ceiling. "It's going to take some time before the device is at full power to blast through the barrier of the Digital World," Yuehon explained.

"Unfortunately, we don't really have time," he frowned, "Kamiya and the others are heading this way. We're going to have to hold them off until the time is right. Tell Inoe to be prepared to fight."

Yuehon nodded. "As you wish."

Hiroshi chuckled as he held his Holy Trident tightly in his arms. "And if they get past you, I'll crush all of them with the power of my Holy Trident and my Crest of Spirit."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Kari could not help but shiver as she looked up at the black tower in front of her. "So, this is Dark SEED's base?"

Tatum nodded. "Yeah."

"Sure doesn't look too inviting," Ken said.

Tk took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter. Come on, we've got to get inside and stop them."

"He's right," Kari said, "This isn't time for small talk. Come on." She led the group to the large double doors that were resting at the bottom of the tower. The brown-haired girl took a deep breath and pushed them open, revealing a tunnel of darkness.

"Hmm," Tk said, mentioning to a pile of debris, "The damage from our battle with Daemon is still here. They don't clean up too often, huh?"

They continued in silence until they reached a fork in the road. "We should split up," Tk suggested, "You know, cover more ground."

Kari nodded. "Okay. Davis, why don't you, Catherine, Cody, and Ken take the left tunnel, and Tk, Tatum, Derek and I will take the right? "

Davis nodded. "Sure. Good luck."

The two teams ran up their separate tunnels. Davis's team did not have long to run as they soon arrived in a large room, almost like a hanger, with doors in all four directions. "Which way now?" Veemon asked.

"How about to your graves?" a familiar voice shouted.

"I recognize zat voice!" Catherine gasped, looking to the left as a black-haired girl walked through one of the doors, with a candle creature at her side. "Yuehon!"

The Chinese girl grinned. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you pass." She grabbed her digivice, "And just because I lost my crest, doesn't mean that Candlemon can't reach the Ultimate level."

"But how is that possible?" Ken gasped.

Yuehon shrugged. "I don't know the necessary technical explanations; I guess that my digivice just remembered the power. Who cares? Candlemon!"

Her partner nodded. "Right. Candlemon digivolve to Apemon! Apemon digivolve to Mammothmon!"

Davis looked at his small team. "All right, there's only one of him, and four of us! Let's go!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

"Floramon digivolve Kiwimon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

Mammothmon laughed. "All right, bring it on!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Crabmon panted as he ran through the other tunnel. "Jeeze, did this thing suddenly decide to go uphill?"

"Yeah, I think so," Derek said, whipping sweat from his head, "But we can't start complaining now."

"He's right," Tk said, "Let's just keep moving, I'm sure that, ah!" The floor beneath them suddenly swung open, sending all but Kari through it before closing again.

"Tk?" Kari gasped, spinning around just in time to see them falling through the hole. "Tk!" She fell onto her knees and slammed her fists into the now solid floor. "Tk! Patamon! Tatum!"

Salamon looked to her partner. "Where did they go?"

"They must have fallen into a lower chamber. You didn't see a side tunnel or anything on our way up here?"

"No."

Kari jumped back to her feet. "Come on, we've got to keep going then."

Underneath of their feet, Tk and the others forcefully landed on a hard wooden floor and then began to slid down a descending ramp until they entered a large open area. "Oh, my head," Tatum said, rubbing the back of her head.

"What happened to Kari?" Tatum asked.

"Kari?" Tk asked, "Hey, where is she? She must not have fallen down with the rest of us."

"Really?" another voice asked, "Too bad."

"Yolei!" Tk gasped.

The holder of the Crest of Hate chuckled. "I wanted to get Kari, but it looks like I'll have to settle with you."

"Yolei, please!" Tk shouted, "Don't!"

The purple-haired girl ignored him as she grabbed her digivice. "Hawkmon!"

Her partner was hovering above her head. "Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon! Aquillamon digivolve to Silphymon!"

The hovering bird-man grinned and stared at the digimon. "You'd better digivolve."

"He's right," Patamon said, "Tk, we don't have a choice."

The blond boy nodded. "I guess not."

"Maybe if we beat Yolei, we can save her," Betamon said.

"It's worth a shot," Tatum nodded, "Let's do it."

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon:

"Betamon digivolve to Airdramon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Coelemon!"

Yolei grinned. "Let's begin."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari and Salamon ran as fast as they could through the dark tunnel. "I still don't see any side tunnels or passages," the small digimon said.

"I know," Kari panted, "But we have to keep moving!"

They soon exited the tunnel and emerged into a strange room. "What the heck?" the brown-haired girl asked, walking through slowly, staring at the giant double doors on the far side.

"Kari," Salamon gasped, "Look at the wall!"

"The Hearts of the Destiny Stones," she said, in awe. She followed the beams of light that each stone was casting to the diamond-shaped device in the middle of the ceiling. "That's collecting the energy. I guess it's going to attack that door?"

"That's correct."

Kari focused her attention to the source of the voice and saw Hiroshi and Penmon sitting on the stairs beneath the door. He was lightly tapping the Holy Trident into his left hand while holding it with his right. "You see, this is door was built over a weak spot in the seal around the Digital World. That device in the ceiling is going to collect the energy from the Destiny Stones and once it has been completely filled, fire a blast that will shatter the seal and allow me to pass into the world where my greatest wishes can come true!"

Kari stared at the device hanging from the ceiling. "That's what that does?"

"Yes," Hiroshi said, "but since I don't want it to get damaged…" He held up a small remote and pressed a large button, which lowered a wall behind Kari, trapping the Hearts of the Destiny Stones and the diamond shaped device safely behind it. There was only a small square missing from near the ceiling, which allowed the end of the device to continue pointing at the door. "It will be some time before it's filled, so, why don't we get this over with?"

He stood up and pointed his digivice at Penmon. "Ready?"

He nodded. "Penmon digivolve to Seadramon! Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon!"

Hiroshi gripped his Trident tightly as it began to glow brightly. Megaseadramon began to glow in synch. The Holy weapon fired a beam of gold light that enveloped both Hiroshi and his digimon partner. The light exploded to reveal the fused form of Hiroshi/Megaseadramon.

Kari held out her own Holy Weapon and turned to Salamon. "Are you ready to give this another try?"

The small digimon nodded. "Yeah, if we just believe in ourselves, we can do anything!"

Kari grabbed her digivice. "Do it!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon! Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

Kari took a deep breath, and then pointed her Holy Lances at her angelic partner. The Holy Lances fired a beam of gold light that merged with Angewomon, and another beam of light that merged with Kari. The two figures were pulled together until they exploded in gold light, revealing a new, single figure. The merged Kari/Angewomon looked like Kari wearing Angewomon's white outfit, but with much longer brown hair. Her white wings glistened behind her, but she did not have Angewomon's gloves, helmet or ribbons. She used her Holy Lances to point at Hiroshi/Megaseadramon. "All right, now you're in trouble."

"Ha!" Hiroshi/Megaseadramon laughed, "Just because part of me is a water Data digimon, and not a demon virus digimon, doesn't mean I'm going to be easy to beat." He grinned, "Bring it on!" He charged at her, swinging his Trident to smash her side, but she took to the air, using her wings.

Kari/Angewomon grinned. "Wow, I can fly! I can fly!" She was suddenly thrown out of the sky by a large bolt of electrical energy.

"Keep your eyes on the battle!" Hiroshi/Megaseadramon grinned.

Kari/Angewomon growled as she stood back on her feet. She charged at the Dark SEED leader and swung her Lances at his head, but he used his Trident to block with ease. He twisted around and slammed his foot into her side, throwing her to the ground. He pointed his Trident at her and fired another bolt of electrical energy, but she was able to jump back into the air in time.

"Get down here!" he shouted.

She grinned and dive bombed him, slamming her Lances into his face. He stumbled backwards, but was still able to swing his Trident into her side. She twisted around and slammed into the ground. Hiroshi/Megaseadramon left into the air and fired another blast.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Tusk Crusher!" Mammothmon shouted, firing two missiles from his tusks, hitting Stingmon and Exveemon, throwing them into the wall. Kiwimon attached from the side, firing her bird-shaped daggers into his side. The large elephant swung his trunk around, sending her into the other wall.

"I'll stop him!" Ankylomon shouted, slamming his head into Mammothmon's leg, trying to knock him onto his side, but the elephant was too big. He used his tusk again to wrap around Ankylomon's back leg and threw him into the wall to join Kiwimon.

Yuehon laughed from her place on Mammothmon's back. "You can't beat us! You don't stand a chance!"

Davis growled and reached for his digivice. "Exveemon!"

The blue dragon nodded and stood on his feet. "Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

Mammothmon frowned. "This could be a problem," he whispered to his partner.

Paildramon swung his gun barrels around and pointed them at the elephant. "Desperado Blaster!" The glowing bullets pierced through the mammoth's side, causing him to moan in pain.

"Ha!" Paildramon laughed, "Like that, huh? Huh?"

"Freezing Breath!" he shouted, turning Paildramon's leg into pure ice. The dragon man yelled in pain. Mammothmon grinned. "I bet that hurt, huh?" He smacked his trunk into Exveemon again.

Davis reached inside his backpack and removed his Holy Gauntlets and quickly pulled them onto his hands. "Paildramon, we've got to use these! Hold on until…" He was abruptly cut off when Mammothmon hit him with his trunk, throwing him to the floor.

" Davis!" Cody cried, " Davis!"

"Is he allright?" Catherine asked.

"He's out cold!" the younger boy gasped, " Davis, get up!"

"Tail Hammer!"

"Spinning Spiking Strike!"

Mammothmon turned his head just in time to receive the combined attacks of Ankylomon and Stingmon. He frowned and executed a counterattack by firing his Tusk Crusher at Stingmon, slamming him into the far wall. The large mammoth then stood on his hind legs, slamming his right foot into Ankylomon's head.

"Ankylomon!" Cody shouted, "Are you all right? Get up!"

Catherine stared with horror as the brutal attacks on Stingmon and Ankylomon. She squeezed her digivice tightly. "Kiwimon, you've got to digivolve!"

Her faithful partner nodded. "Kiwimon digivolve to Blossumon!"

Mammothmon turned to stare at his newest opponent. "So, you digivolved, huh?"

The plant digimon smashed her vines into the elephant's side. The small mouths on the tips of the vines ripped and tore through the mammoth's side. He tried to bat her aside with his trunk again, but Blossomon used the remainder of his vines to stop Mammothmon's nose. She stared directly at his face and fired glowing beams out of her eyes. "Spiral Flower!"

"Yes!" Catherine cheered, jumping into the air, "Yez! Go, Blossomon!"

The plant digimon continued her assault on Mammothmon, slapping him with her vines. The large elephant was finally able to overpower her, tearing his trunk through her vines and smacking her into the ground. Mammothmon turned and pointed his two horns at her. "Tusk Crusher!" She screamed as she was hit with the missiles at such close proximity.

"Blossomon!" Catherine screamed.

"You see," Yuehon grinned, "You can't stop us. Just give up now."

"We're not defeated yet!" Davis said, slowly standing back up.

"No!" the Chinese girl gasped, "No! How..Mammothmon slammed you into the wall! You should be unconscious for hours!"

Davis grinned as he held up his Holy Gauntlets. "What can I say? I'm tougher then I look. Paildramon!" His dragon partner appeared behind him, as the Gauntlets glowed brightly, enveloping them both in its golden light. When the light faded, the fused form of Davis/Paildramon stood in their place.

"Oh no!" Yuehon gasped, "No!"

Davis/Paildramon did not speak as he pointed the twin gun barrels that were attached to his waist at the woolly mammoth digimon. "Desperado Blaster!" The twin barrels fired a barrage of energy pellets into Mammothmon, ripping across his body. The large digimon glowed brightly and then shrunk down to his Rookie form of Candlemon.

The other digidestined came running over and congratulated them, but the goggle-wearer was staring at his opponents. Yuehon was cradling the barely injured Candlemon in her arms. Davis/Paildramon marched over and stared at her. "I'm sorry your partner was hurt," he said, "But you attacked us first. Why do you do that?"

She stared at him. "Huh?"

"Why are you part of Dark SEED? Why are you so determined to fight us?"

"Because of Lord Hiroshi," she said, "I have been his loyal servant all my life." She grinned, "And by now he's already managed to break through the seal!"

Davis/Paildramon turned to the others. "Take her back to the ship!"

"What about you?" Cody asked.

"I'm heading for Hiroshi!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Dark SEED leader was already engaged in a battle with the Digidestined leader. Kari/Angewomon hovered in the air over Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, giving her an advantage. She held her Holy Lances above her head, making it glow a bright white light. She stared at Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, standing on the ground, staring back at her. Kari/Angewomon swung her lances down, sending a crescent beam of light towards the Dark SEED leader. "Heaven's Charm!"

Hiroshi/Megaseadramon swung his Trident, firing his own energy attack. "Thunder Javelin!"

The two attacks smashed into each other, exploding in a blast of light and energy that sent shockwaves into both combatants. Hiroshi/Megaseadramon was thrown into the staircase beneath the double doors, while Kari/Angewomon slammed into the ground. The Dark SEED leader recovered quicker and saw the Digidestined leader lying on the floor. He ran at her, bringing his Trident above his head and swung down. Kari/Angewomon quickly brought her Holy Lances up and successfully blocked the attack. Unfortunately for Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, the tip of his Trident was caught in the handle of the Holy Lances. Kari/Angewomon grinned as she pulled her Lances as hard as she could, throwing Hiroshi/Megaseadramon over her head and onto the ground. She jumped back onto her feet seconds before her opponent did the same.

They stared at one another, panting loudly. "Not bad," Hiroshi/Megaseadramon grinned, "You're pretty good."

"Thank you," Kari/Angewomon smiled, "You're pretty good too. I just wish there was a way that I could convince you to stop what you're doing."

"Ain't going to happen," Hiroshi/Megaseadramon said. He held up his Trident, "Shall we continue?"

Kari/Angewomon looked to the ground. "If you want," she sighed, sadly.

The Dark SEED leader grinned and ran forward. Kari/Angewomon reluctantly leapt back into battle.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei laughed with glee as Silphymon fired his Static Force attack into Angemon, before grabbing Aidramon by the tail and swinging him into Coelemon. "You guys are pathetic!" she laughed, "I can't believe you beat the four generals of Dark SEED!"

"Yolei!" Tk called, "Yolei, please, remember who you really are!"

"I know who I am!" she laughed.

"No," Tk said, "I mean, you're a Digidestined! You're one of us!"

"Yeah, I _was_!" she laughed, "But I left after Kari turned her back on me!"

"She didn't do anything like that!" Tk pleaded, "You don't understand, Kari _does_ love you!"

Yolei stopped her cold laughter and stared at him. "She..she does?"

"Yes!" Tk said, slowly, not wanting to scare her off, "She's just confused about her feelings. She doesn't know how to deal with what she's feeling towards you and me…"

"You!" she suddenly screamed, "You're the reason that she hates me! Silphymon, kill him!"

"Well, that went well," Derek said, ducking to avoid another blast from Silphymon.

"I almost had her," Tk said, "I almost brought her back!"

The bird-man tried to attack Tk and Derek by firing another of his Static Force energy balls, but Angemon jumped in front of his partner. "Angemon!" Tk shouted, "Digivolve!"

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

The newly digivolved angel used his wrist-based sword to bat the energy ball aside, where it exploded into the concrete floor. Silphymon growled and fired another Static Force at the Ultimate Angel digimon. Magna Angemon could not react in time, and was hit in the chest. He was injured, but not enough to cause him to pause in the fight.

"I do not want to hurt you," he said.

"Then you're out of luck!" Aquillamon shouted.

"Hold on!" Aidramon shouted, zooming towards the Ultimate bird digimon with Coelemon on his back. "Now's your chance, Coelemon."

"Thanks a lot buddy," the crustacean said, jumping off of the serpent's back and firing his sharp needles into Silphymon's face. "Fossil Bite!"

The Ultimate bird-digimon yelled in pain, but he soon roared when Airdramon fired his own energy beams into Silphymon's already injured face. "Silphymon!" Yolei screamed, "Silphymon!"

The bird-digimon pulled his hands away from his injured face and stared at the flying serpent and the crustacean on his back. The small circle on his belt began to spin at an incredible rate, covering his body in a bright light. He shot at his two enemies, then pulled up quickly, but the glow in the shape of his body slammed into the flying serpent. "Astral Laser!" Airdramon was thrown out of control and crashed into the floor.

"That is enough!" Magna Angemon shouted, his body glowing with a bright light, "I'm not going to let you hurt our friends any longer."

Silphymon grinned wickedly. "Bring it on."

Tk stared with awe and horror at the ferocity of Silphymon's attack. He turned to the grinning purple-haired girl. "Yolei! Yolei, please, try to remember!"

"Remember what?" she sneered.

"Remember how you really feel about Kari!"

"Kari!" she roared, "I hate her!"

"No, you don't!" Tk said, "Remember, you're Sora Takenouchi, and _Tai_ is the _last_ person Sora would ever hate."

Yolei's face suddenly softened. "T..tai.."

Tk nodded. "That's right. Remember, I'm Matt, I was there, I saw how much you two were in love with each other. You may have only been ten-years-old, but you two were _destined_ to be in love. You were soul mates, without a doubt."

The Crest of Hate around Yolei's neck started to glow. The purple-haired girl fell to her knees, screaming. She clutched her head and moaned in extreme pain.

"Yolei!" Tk shouted, running to her, "Yolei! What's happening?"

Tatum stood by Tk's side. "My best guess would be that the Crest of Hate is trying to regain its hold on her, but she's fighting back. Keep talking to her."

Tk nodded. "Yolei, Sora, you can do this, I know you can. You've just got to remember your true feelings for Kari. Remember!"

"I..I remember," she screamed in pain, "I remember! I..I don't hate her..I don't hate her!" The Crest of Hate around her neck began to crack.

The blond boy nodded. "Right. You love her…"

"I love her!" Yolei screamed, "I love her!" The cracks in the Crest of Hate began to grow larger.

Tk nodded. "Come on, Yolei, I know what its like to have a crest that turns against you. Sora, you don't have the Crest of Hate, your power is love. Please, fight it! Yolei, you can do it, I believe in you! Do it!"

Yolei roared in pain as the Crest of Hate completely shattered, revealing the familiar Crest of Love hidden underneath. The purple haired girl smiled then fell forward into the open arms of Tk. The blond boy looked to the ceiling and saw that Silphymon had regressed to Hawkmon's In-training form of Poromon, whom Magna Angemon was gently lowering to the ground.

Tk looked back to the unconscious form of Yolei and smiled. "She's back. Sora, er, Yolei's back. Derek, here, take her." He gently placed her into the other boy's arms.

"Where are you goin'?" he asked, shifting Yolei in his arms.

"I've got to look for Kari. Both of you, get back to the _Boreas. _Come on, Magna Angemon." He ran towards the door on the other side of the room.

"Wait," Tatum called, "Let me go with you."

He shook his head.

"I can help you more then you know," she said, reaching into her robe to remove a gold whip.

"What is that?" Magna Angemon asked.

"The Holy Whip," Tatum's Airdramon answered.

"You have a Holy Weapon?" Tk gasped, "All right, come on."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari/Angewomon executed a roundhouse, slicing her heeled boot into Hiroshi/Megaseadramon's face. The top half of his body was pulled back, but he flung forward and head-butted Kari/Angewomon, throwing her backwards. He charged forward, swinging his Trident down into her injured body. She yelled in pain, but he did not cease. He continued to attack with his Trident, brutally smashing and batting her from side to side. It was taking all her concentration to block the attacks, much less fight back.

"Ha!" he laughed, smacking her in the shoulder, "You can't fight back, can you?" He laughed as smacked the Trident against her side. "Why don't you just give up?" He smiled as he used the tip of his sharp points to slice her stomach, tearing away part of her white costume. "Give it up!" he laughed, "Give up! You've lost!"

A fire began to well up deep in Kari/Angewomon's body. "No…No! I won't give up!" she shouted, swinging her Holy Lances to block the Holy Trident, but luck was with her this time, as it threw the hand with the Holy Trident above Hiroshi/Megaseadramon's head. She began to attack with the same lightning speed that the Dark SEED leader used against her. She jabbed him with one end of her Lances, then twisted her weapon around to smash him with the other end. She continued with this blitzkrieg, until Hiroshi/Megaseadramon stumbled backwards before falling onto his knees. Kari/Angewomon leapt towards the ceiling and hovered in the air.

"This is your end," she said, holding her Holy Lances perpendicular to the ground in her left hand, "Your evil deeds cannot go unpunished."

"Spare me your lectures!" he snapped, struggling to stand.

Kari/Angewomon formed a glowing arrow in her right and placed next to the Holy Lances, which she was still holding perpendicular to the floor in her left. She pulled the glowing arrow back, using the Holy Lances as a bow. She pointed the tip of her arrow at the kneeling Hiroshi/Megaseadramon. She let go of the end, sending the glowing arrow into the Dark SEED leader, exploding on contact. He screamed as he was thrown backwards, slamming in the stairs beneath the double doors. He panted heavily as she stared at Kari/Angewomon, who was descending towards the ground.

She walked over to him. "Hiroshi, Megaseadramon, are you okay?" she asked.

"Spare me your pity!" he snapped.

"It's not pity," she said, "It's general concern. How are you?"

He glared up at her but gasped when a loud noise started humming from behind Kari/Angewomon. She spun around and her eyes focused on the diamond tip of the object hanging from the ceiling. "It's full!" Hiroshi/Megaseadramon laughed, "It's full!"

"What?" Kari/Angewomon gasped, "You mean…?"

"Yes!" the Dark SEED leader grinned, "Yes!"

The beams from the six Destiny Stone hearts faded as the hanging object began to shine in a rainbow of light. The diamond tip perpendicular to the floor glowed in the same rainbow of colors and fired a beam of multicolored light into the double doors. The stone gates did not shatter, however, as the beam hit an invisible wall directly over the doors. Kari/Angewomon assumed this was part of the shield and watched as the beam of light caused it to shatter. The Key Cards placed over top of the door began to glow brightly.

"Yes!" Hiroshi/Megaseadramon shouted, finding renewed energy to stand on his feet, "Yes!" He ran towards the doors, eager to throw them open, but to his surprise, they opened on their own. The Dark SEED leader stopped short and started in confusion and horror as the doors swung open to reveal a glowing wall. A massive figure stepped through, causing the entire room to shake violently. The doors slammed shut after this figure, who was grinning wildly.

"Yes!" the figure laughed, "I'm back, Digital World!"

"Venom Myotismon?" Kari/Angewomon gasped.

It was indeed the evil mega. He turned to look at the fusion of Kari and Angewomon. "What exactly are you?" he asked, "I sense both human and digimon."

"I'm kinda both," she said. She stared at Venom Myotismon. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"No, and I don't really care," he grinned, "I'm finally free of the prison those blasted Guardians placed me in!" He turned to stare at Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, "And I couldn't do it without your help."

"W..what are you talking about?" he gasped.

Venom Myotismon grinned. "Where do you think you got the idea to pierce a hole in the protective seal of the Digital World? How would you have known to use the Destiny Stones to do the job?"

The Dark SEED leader pointed his Holy Weapon at him. "Are you telling me that..that you…"

"Yes, he finally gets it!" Venom Myotismon laughed, "Ever since I became trapped in that prison dimension beyond the Digital World, I've been waiting for my chance to return. I found you, already in tune with the darkness. Somehow I could sense your thoughts, and so, I contacted you in your dreams, implanting the idea and the means to break through the seal, all so I could free myself!"

"You used me!" Hiroshi/Megaseadramon shouted, "You used me!"

"Exactly."

"I'll kill you for that!" He charged at him.

"Don't do it!" Kar/Angewomon shouted, "You'll get killed!"

Hiroshi/Megaseadramon ignored her and fired his Thunder Javelin attack at the evil mega. Venom Myotismon just grinned as he easily batted the bolt of energy into the ground. The Dark SEED leader fired another attack, which the evil mega once again batted aside, this time straight back at Hiroshi/Megaseadramon. The Dark SEED leader was thrown back into the far wall. Kari/Angewomon flew over to his side. "Are you okay?"

Venom Myotismon laughed as he fired a bolt of blackness from his mouth, straight a Kari/Angewomon. "Venom Infusion!"

"Look out!" Hiroshi/Megaseadramon gasped, grabbing the Digidestined leader by the ankle and yanking her to the ground. The ball of blackness smashed into the concrete wall, which melted into nothingness seconds later.

"A..acid?" Kari/Angewomon gasped. She turned to ask the Dark SEED leader why he bothered to save her, but he was already running full force towards the evil mega.

"Thunder Javelin!" He fired another bolt of electrical energy.

Venom Myotismon roared with laughter. "This pathetic attempt again?" He once again easily batted the bolt of electrical energy into the ground directly in front of the Dark SEED leader, throwing him backwards onto the floor. Venom Myotismon grinned as he towered over top of him. "Time to die!" he laughed, placing his foot over top of the fallen Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, "Thanks for all your help, but it's time for you to leave us!"

"Desperado Blaster!"

"Excalibur!"

The evil mega shot his head back up in time to see the combined attack of Davis/Paildramon and Tk/Magna Angemon slam into him. He was thrown off balance, and had to place his foot behind him to keep from falling over, saving Hiroshi/Megaseadramon.

Kari/Angewomon grinned as she saw her two teammates. "I'm glad you're okay. Tatum?"

The Irish girl nodded. "Yes. I can help you too." The other two digidestined/digimon began to battle Venom Myotismon, giving Tatum enough time to prepare to use her Holy Whip.

"A Holy Weapon?" Kari/Angewomon gasped.

She nodded and turned to her partner. "Ready?"

Betamon nodded. "Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon!"

"Sand Yanmamon?" Kari/Angewomon gasped, staring at the giant dragonfly, "What about Airdramon?"

"My partner has two evolution lines," she said. She grabbed hold of the Crest of Reliability and her own digivice. "Ready."

Sand Yanmamon nodded. "Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachiomon!" Her dragonfly partner had digivolved into a larger, orange colored brachiosaurus. The Holy Whip began to glow brightly, enveloping Digidestined and Digimon alike. The light grew in intensity, until it exploded, revealing the fused form of Tatum and Brachiomon, a human girl covered in orange scales, with the top of Brachiomon's head acting like a cap on the top of her head. The Holy Whip was attached to the back of her waist like a tail. She smiled at Kari/Angewomon. "Ready?"

The Digidestined leader smiled. "Yeah." She tightened her grip on her Holy Lances and the two fused warriors charged to join Davis/Paildramon and Tk/Magna Angemon.

"Guys!" Kari/Angewomon shouted.

"Glad you're here," Davis/Paildramon said, mentioning to Tk/Magna Angemon battling Venom Myotismon, "This guy's pretty tough."

"Of course!" the evil mega grinned, "Do you think I'm some puny Rookie? Ha! I am a mighty mega! Venom Infusion!" He fired another large black ball from his mouth; narrowly missing Tk/Magna Angemon. He did, however, knock into a wall, dissolving it. This caused part of the ceiling to collapse on top of him. Before his attack connected with the wall, it passed by the hearts of the Destiny Stones, and even a fraction of Venom Myotismon's attacks caused them to turn to dust.

"He's not gone yet" Tk/Magna Angemon said..

"We have to attack him together," Tatum/Brachiomon said, "From what I remember, it took two Megas to stop him, maybe five fused Ultimates can do the same."

"Five?" Davis/Paildramon asked. He suddenly gasped and turned around to stare at Hiroshi/Megaseadramon. "No way."

"We've got no choice," Tk/Magna Angemon said. He walked towards the Dark SEED leader, "Will you help us?"

He mentioned to the large pile of ceiling debris that Venom Myotismon was struggling to dig himself out of. "I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?"

They heard a loud rumbling noise. The fused warriors jumped to attention and stared at the pile of debris. "Here he comes," Davis/Paildramon said.

"We're going to have to hit him fast," Tatum/Brachiomon said, "Don't give him a chance to recover himself."

Kari/Angewomon took a deep breath. "This is it."

The pile of debris exploded, revealing the evil mega, Venom Myotismon. He stared at the fused warriors and laughed. "So, you're all ready to try and stop me? Well, everyone deserves to die fighting!" He opened his arms and charged forward.

"Now!" Kari/Angewomon shouted.

Tk/Magna Angemon raised his wrist based Holy Sword and fired a series of glowing sabers into the evil mega's chest. He staggered backwards.

Davis/Paildramon swung his gun barrels around from behind him and fired. "Desperado Blaster!"

Venom Myotismon grimaced in pain as the glowing bullets ripped across his chest.

Tatum/Brachiomon created a group of glowing balls in her hands and fired them at Venom Myotismon. "Brachio Bubbles!" The series of glowing spheres slammed into the evil mega, causing him to flinch in pain.

Hiroshi/Megaseadramon swung a familiar bolt of electrical energy from his Trident. "Thunder Javelin!"

Venom Myotismon fell to his knees. "D..damn you…"

"We've got him on the ropes!" Davis/Paildramon grinned, "This is your chance Kari! Do it!"

Kari/Angewomon held her Holy Lances perpendicular to the floor and formed a glowing arrow, which she used the Lances as a bow. She aimed the tip at the evil mega and fired. "Celestial Arrow!"

"No!" he screamed, as his body was covered by white light. When it faded, a much smaller, yet familiar figure remained.

"Myotismon?" Kari/Angewomon asked.

"Amazing," Tatum/Brachiomon gasped, "After all that, he only regressed one level."

"He looks unconscious," Tk/Magna Angemon observed.

"But how can he be here?" Kari/Angewomon gasped, "I thought we destroyed him!"

Tk/Magna Angemon shook his head, "I have no idea, but I bet that Ryo and Geni know."

"What are we suppose to do with him?" Davis/Paildramon asked.

Kari/Angewomon thought for a moment. "Put him on the _Boreas_. Well shackle him in the cargo hold, or something, just until we get to Geni's."

"What about him?" the human/dragon digimon asked, pointing to Hiroshi/Megaseadramon.

The Digidestined leader nodded. "We'll let Geni decide."

All five fused warriors glowed brightly, then returned to their previous forms. Tk contacted Ken on the D-terminals, while Davis grabbed Hiroshi and brought him to his feet. Kari found that Tatum was observing the remainders of the hearts of the Destiny Stones.

"They're gone," she said, "Venom Myotismon's attack completely destroyed them."

Kari nodded. "But the damage was already done. I bet that when the seal _here_ was destroyed, it must have either destroyed the rest of the seal, or severely weakened it. I just hope there's a way to repair it."

"Kari," Tk said, walking up to her, "Ken's making a force field generator, or at least trying to. He thinks that maybe it'll keep Myotismon immobile for how ever long it takes to get back." He mentioned to Hiroshi, being watched closely by Davis, "And some handcuffs."

Kari nodded.

Tk smiled. "Oh, almost forget. Here, the Key Cards. I just grabbed them. They fell to the ground during the fight."

Kari counted the cards to make sure that there were nine of them, then smiled. "Thanks. I'd better keep my eye on these."

Tk stared at the destruction of the Destiny Stones. "It's too bad, you know."

"What is?"

He smiled slightly. "I have to confess that part of me was hoping that Hiroshi was going to succeed. I mean, are the Digital World and Earth the only worlds out there? What else is beyond our reach? I would have really liked to see that."

Kari smiled. "Yeah."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Somewhere else, in a room similar to a throne room of an ancient castle, a human figure sat on the make-shift throne, staring at a pedestal in front of him. On this stand was a board with small squares of different colors, and a variety of small wooden figurines. The figure raised his head. "Really, Myotismon?"

A woman dressed entirely in red nodded. "Yes. Apparently, he was trapped in some sort of prison world, or perhaps just banished to the boundaries between worlds."

"In any case, this is very interesting," the figure grinned, "I did not anticipate him, but it could all be for the best in the end." He took a small square of wood from a bag along side his throne and a pocket knife from inside of his trench coat. He quickly began to use the knife to cut and saw away the wood until he had produce a new figure, one with an almost exact likeness of Myotismon. He placed this figure on the board.

He stared at the other figurines, carved in the likeness of the Digidestined, Tatum, Yuehon and Hiroshi. They were grouped together with the new figurine of Myotismon, next to a small model of the _Boreas_. Ryo and Geni figurines stood off to the side, as was a lone Agumon. A bag on the floor contained the models of Ladydevimon, Diaboromon, Skull Satanmon, Daemon and Kimeramon. "The countdown to Armageddon has begun."

"Sir?" the woman asked.

He grinned wickedly "The pieces….are almost in place."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Kari's destiny has long been in question. What is her purpose in this fight? What exactly does her mission have in store for her? _

_Next: "_ _Dark_ _Ocean__: Entrance." The journey home is never easy._


	16. DARK OCEAN: Entrance

Dark Ocean: Entrance

The Boreas continued on its path across the Digital World. Kari smiled to herself as she watched the scenery pass by from her place on the bridge. "This is really pretty beautiful," she said, watching as they traveled through the bright blue sky.

Ken smiled from his pilot's seat. "Yeah, I know."

Kari nodded. "How long until we get to Geni's?"

Ken pointed to one of the computer screens on the console in front of him, it displayed a computerized map of the Digital World, with a blinking red dot slowly moving over a large land mass towards the ocean. "That's us. We should enter the ocean's airspace in about an hour. Geni's house is on the other side."

Kari nodded. "Oh."

"Nervous about our..'cargo'?" Wormmon asked.

The brown-haired girl sighed. "I'm a little worried about having Myotismon chained up down there. I know he's unconscious and behind that force field thing you made, but still.."

"What about Hiroshi and Yuehon?" Ken asked, "What are you doing to do about them?"

"I…I don't know."

Ken nodded. "Well, I hope you come up with something soon."

"Yeah, I hope so too. I'll be in the sleeping quarters if you need me."

Ken nodded. "Affirmative."

Kari smiled and walked out of the bridge to enter the hallway. She walked to the lower levels where the beds were and found Nyaromon snoring loudly on a small cot. She smiled to herself but her grin faded when she noticed another sleeping digimon, Poromon. She looked up at the human bed next to him and found the purple-haired girl. "Yolei."

"Oh, Kari, hi," she said, turning her gaze away.

"Yolei," Kari started, "I…."

"I'm sorry," Yolei blurted out, tears pouring down her face, "Kari, I'm so sorry."

The brown-haired girl was taken back slightly. "Yolei..you don't need to apologize. I know it was the Crest of Hate…"

"You don't understand," she sobbed, "The crest wouldn't have worked if I already didn't have those feelings. Kari, I'm so sorry, I was confused about my feelings, about you and Tk."

"What do you mean?" she gasped.

Yolei had a torrent of tears gushing from her eyes. "Kari, I'm sorry, I did hate you, but I was so confused about my feelings, I…I didn't know what to feel…I'm so sorry. I know…I know that I can't ever ask you to forgive me…."

Kari smiled warmly. "Yolei, I can't forgive you, because I don't blame you for anything."

The purple-haired girl sniffled. "Kari…" She shook her head, "I've done terrible things, you can't pretend like it didn't affect you. Oh God, how can you even stand to look at me! I should be down there with Hiroshi and Yuehon!" She grabbed Poromon and ran out of the room.

"Yolei!" Kari called, but the purple-haired girl had already disappeared around the corner. She was about to run after her, when Tk, Tatum and their digimon: Tokomon and Tanemon walked up to her.

"Kari?" Tk asked, "We need to talk to you about something, is now a good time?"

She sighed then turned around to face them. "Sure. What's up?"

They walked into the sleeping quarters. "What?" Kari asked.

"There's something you need to know about yourself," Tatum said, "Something that I don't think anyone's told you yet."

Kari began to get worried. "What?"

"Kari, I, and most likely Ryo and Geni, believe that you are a hero that the Digital World has been awaiting for a very long time now."

Kari's nervousness disappeared, but her curiosity remained. "What do you mean?"

"There's a certain prophesy," Tatum said, "When the balance of the Digital World has been destroyed, and the dark god arises, the hero will appear. He will wield the powers of holy light and holy weapons, the Holy Prince of Heroes."

Kari nodded. "And you think that's me? But, they were talking about a male."

"Actually," Tatum said, "I think that this prophecy was meant for Tai. And no doubt, so did Ryo and Geni. I guess no one expected you to die."

Tk nodded. "Besides, a lot of what that prophecy said could be altered for you," he smiled slightly, "Holy Princess of Heroes."

She looked at Tk, and noticed that he was holding a manila file. "What's that?"

The blond boy looked at the object in his hands. "Oh yeah. Tatum gave this to me a little while ago."

The braided-hair girl nodded. "Yeah, I snuck into Darkness Falls and pulled that out of their computer files. It talks about how Dark SEED was formed about twenty years ago on Earth. It originally didn't have anything to do with the Digital World, but it was some kind of cult group with a lot of members in politics. Somehow, Hiroshi stole the leadership of the group from its old leader."

"Who?" Kari asked.

Tatum shrugged. "I don't know, it didn't say. The file was probably like a record of his success. They wanted to wipe clear any trace of the old leader. "

"There's more," Tk said, "According to that file, the old leader was keeping his eyes on you and me."

"What? Wait, twenty years ago, I was Tai, and only about five years old. What could he have in mind before we ever entered the Digital World?"

Tk shook his head. "I don't know, but I think I know someone that might."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Ken yawned to himself as he leaned back in his chair. He heard someone chuckle behind him. "Bored?"

He smiled slightly. "Yeah, well, the ship is on automatic pilot, so basically just on guard duty."

Cody sat down in the chair next to him and stared out the large windows. The Boreas was silently flying over the bright blue ocean. "This is kind of peaceful." He sighed, "I wonder how long before we'll have to fight again. Will there ever be peaceful times for us again, or are we doomed to fight for the rest of our lives?"

"What about me?" Ken asked, "I'm fighting in both of my lives. I'm curious about whether we'll have to fight for all eternity."

Cody sighed. "Yeah, I know. Why don't we just enjoy this for as long as we can."

Ken nodded and the two boys watched through the front viewer as the Boreas flew over the ocean, heading towards a curious dark whirlpool, unknown to anyone aboard.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"I want an update."

"Sir, I've got them on the radar now. They're heading towards the whirlpool."

"Excellent. Begin the procedure. I'll be eagerly awaiting them."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yuehon lifted her head when she heard the door slide open. She sneered as Kari led Tatum and Tk inside. "What do you want?"

"We want to talk," Tk said, before Kari could answer.

"About what?"

"Not to you."

The Chinese girl looked over to where Hiroshi was sitting, tied up to his chair in a similar fashion. The former Dark SEED leader had his head to the ground, staring at the floor. "Well, he doesn't feel like talking right now, is that okay?"

Tk ignored her and looked straight at him. "Hiroshi, we have a computer file that was taken from your computer banks. I would like you to tell me about Dark SEED's former leader."

Hiroshi did not answer, but continued to stare at the floor. Yuehon answered for him. "What does that matter? The old guy was weak and obviously couldn't hold onto his power."

"What does that mean?" Tatum asked.

"Dark SEED's old leader had long since disappeared when Lord Hiroshi took over. It was falling apart and crumbling, when he became its leader. We don't have any idea who the other guy was."

"No idea at all?" Tk asked, "Then how come you knew about me? According to this file, you were going to use me to destroy the Destiny Stones!"

"No way!" Yuehon shouted, "You destroyed the Destiny Stone of the Forest on your own! I have no idea why you did that."

Tk read from a piece of paper in the folder, "It says right here: Subject Digimon Emperor will destroy Destiny Stones!"

"It's possible that our old leader wanted that," Hiroshi finally said, looking up, "I did read that file, but I didn't do anything to make you destroy the Destiny Stones. Nothing at all." He sighed deeply, "Was I just a pawn too? I know that Myotismon tricked me into destroying the Destiny Stones, but did the old Dark SEED leader have something to do with that too?"

"It also mentions me in there," Kari said, "I mean, it mentions Tai."

Hiroshi nodded. "Yes, I know, the Holy Prince of Heroes. You realize, of course, that I had no idea that you were the reborn Tai Kamiya when I took over Dark SEED."

"Just great," Tk sighed, "So, who ever was your old leader, was the one that had all of these files."

"Right, and we don't know who that was."

The alarms suddenly started blasting and red lights flashed all across the ship. "What now?" Tk asked.

Ken's voice appeared over the speakers. "You'd all better come up here! We've got a problem!"

Deeper in the holds of the ship, in an area that above the cargo bay, was Myotismon, bound and shackled in a coffin shaped box attached to the wall, surrounded by a glowing green light. "Well, well," he grinned, "I wonder what's going on up there." He tried to break free, but the green light sent a powerful shock through his body.

"Not bad," he said, "This force field might actually keep me here, well, for the time being at least." He scanned the empty room until he found one of the large portholes on the wall across from him, displaying a whirlwind of blackness. "Interesting."

Kari ran onto the bridge with Tatum, and Tk behind her. Yolei, Cody, Ken and the digimon were all ready on the bridge. "What's going on?"

"As far as I can tell, we're stuck in some kind of cyclone!" Ken said, typing as fast as he could on the large console, "We were flying over some kind of…of black whirlpool and this storm just sprang up out of nowhere! I'm trying to straight out the ship, but we're completely out of control."

"All of the sensors are off line," Cody shouted, examining his own section of the large computer console, "I can't tell up from down."

Yolei looked out of the main viewer and saw nothing but blackness. "I bet that if Aquillamon and I could fly out there, we'd be able to see what was happening."

The ship suddenly flung to the right, sending the Digidestined and their partners onto the ground. "Ken!" Davis shouted, "Any chance of stopping this spinning?"

"I don't have any control over anything," he said, gripping the handlebars as hard as he could, "My steering is off-line."

"Just great," Demiveemon sighed.

The Boreas continued to toss and turn, flipping and twisting around in the storm. The Digidestined and their partners were thrown around the ship like lifeless dolls. They were becoming dangerously close to being torn apart, when the ship abruptly stopped accompanied by a loud rumbling noise. The group of humans and digimon were thrown forward, smashing into the chairs and computer console.

"W..what happened?" Kari asked, slowly raising her head.

"We stopped," Wormmon said, looking out the large viewing window, "But where are we?"

"It looks like a jungle," Armadillomon commented, mentioning to the thick trees that were covering the main viewing window.

Cody pulled his chair back to his section of the computer console and tried to activate the machine, but it did not work. "Sensors are still off line."

"Everything's off-line," Ken sighed. He pointed to the soft glow of red lights, "We're operating on emergency power. The only way we'll be able to discover where we are is by opening the door and looking outside."

Davis and Veemon suddenly ran out of the control room. "Wait!" Tk shouted, running after him, "You don't know what's out there!"

"We're not gonna find out by sitting here!" he shouted back. He and his faithful partner ran to the main entrance of the Boreas: two large double doors. The power was off-line, so the partners managed to sneak their way through the small crack between the doors and slid them open. They stuck their heads through the doorway and gazed around at their new surroundings.

The other Digidestined soon appeared behind them. "Well?" Kari asked.

Davis moved aside. "Why don't you take a look yourself?"

The brown-haired girl nodded and walked past him in order to look outside. The Boreas had landed in a marsh, covered by tall green grass and thick jungle leaves. The marsh itself was resting on the shoreline of a giant black ocean. In the distance of the shoreline, they could see a large castle-like structure. "Where the heck are we?"

"We could have gone through a gate," Tatum said, "That whirlpool could have been a kind of 'wormhole,' bringing us to a different area of the Digital World, or even another world entirely."

They walked back to the bridge and to the serious expressions on Ken and Cody's faces. "What's wrong?" Derek asked.

"Well, we're only running on emergency power. It's going to take some time to locate the cause of the problem."

"How long?" Kari asked.

Ken shook his head. "I don't know, a few days maybe."

"A few dayz!" Catherine shouted, "I do not want to be ztuck in t'iz…t'iz zwap for dayz! Get uz out of here!"

Everyone stared at her. She sighed and lightly shook her head. "Sorry, I haven't had a decent zhower in dayz! I'm a little cranky."

Tk nodded. "Okay, well, I think we should try and discover where we are."

"That castle looks promising," Ken said, "We should head there."

Kari concurred, "But we don't know what's out there, so we should be very careful."

Davis mentioned to the floor. "What about our..uh..'guests?"

Kari thought for a few minutes, then nodded. "Come with me." She led them to the first holding area, where the remaining members of Dark SEED were incarcerated.

"What happened out there?" Yuehon asked.

Kari quickly told them what had transpired, ending with, "…and that's why we need your help."

"What do you mean?" Hiroshi asked.

Kari walked over to the wall, where a small computer panel was attached. She pressed the large red button, and the shackles on the prisoners were released. "What are you doing?" Cody gasped.

"We need their help," she repeated, "If you do help us, I promise I'll put in a good word with Geni and Ryo."

Hiroshi and Yuehon stared at one another. "I guess we really don't have a choice, do we?" Penmon asked.

Kari nodded. "Okay, Ken, Cody, Derek and Yuehon, you stay here and try to repair the ship. The rest of us will try to find out where we are."

"What?" the Chinese girl gasped, "You can't order me around!"

"Do it," Hiroshi said. He stared at Yuehon, "Help them, understand?"

She sighed and nodded. "As you wish, Lord Hiroshi."

"What about Myotismon?" Cody asked.

The group of humans and digimon stared at one another. "Well, who's going to go?" Nyaromon asked.

"I'll go," Davis sighed. He grabbed Demiveemon and they ran to the cargo hold. He slowly opened the doors and peeked inside. He saw the figure of Myotismon, still lying unconscious in the transparent metal coffin. He breathed a sigh of relief and ran back to the others.

"Well?" Cody asked.

"He's still sleeping like a baby."

"All right," the brown-haired girl nodded, "Let's go."

"Wait a minute!" Derek shouted, "You're just gonna leave us here with that psychotic vampire in the cargo hold?"

Davis shrugged as the expedition team walked out of the Boreas, "I guess you'd just better hope he doesn't wake up."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Well, where's the ship?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I've lost it."

"You lost the ship? How the hell did you loose a ship as big as the Boreas?"

"It disappeared over the marshes."

"You idiot! It could take months, maybe years to find anything in there! I should ring your neck and put you out of your misery right now!"

"Please, boss, don't…"

"Shut up! Get out there and find them!"

"Yes, boss, We'll just…"

"Right now!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Digidestined continued their trek through the strange new land. The giant grass of the marshes had changed to thick black trees of a forest, which continued to run alongside the massive black ocean.

"Oh man, how much longer?" Demiveemon sighed, "I feel like I've been walking forever."

"Well, at least a few hours," Davis frowned, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "But it does feel like forever, doesn't it?"

Tokomon sighed. "I'm so hot and sweaty!"

Tk tried to glance up at the top of his head where his partner was resting. "What are you complaining about?"

"We're almost to the castle," Kari said, "Let's just try to tough it out a little longer."

Tk grinned. "Now that's the Tai that I remember."

Kari blushed and shot him a glance. "Let's just keep moving. "

Yocomon suddenly stopped. "What iz ze matter?" Catherine asked.

"Don't you feel that?" she asked.

"Feel what?" Tanemon asked.

"I can feel something through the ground," Yocomon sighed, "I wish Armadillomon was here." She looked at the rest of the digimon, "You don't feel anything?"

"Like what?" Nyaromon asked.

"Like someone's coming."

"Don't worry," a sinister female voice laughed, "I believe you!"

"Who said that?" Hiroshi asked.

A woman wearing a bright red dress stepped out from behind a tree. "I did," she grinned.

"Who cares?" Demiveemon asked, "Digivolve!"

The group of digimon charged towards the strange woman. "Nyaromon digivolve to Salamon!"

"Tokomon digivolve to Patamon!"

"Demiveemon digivolve to Veemon!"

"Tanemon digivolve to Betamon!"

"Yocomon digivolve to Floramon!"

The group of Rookie digimon charged at the woman, who grinned wickedly. She raised her palm and fired a stream of silky threads, which connected with the digimon, throwing them back into the ground.

"Man, that hurt," Veemon sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

The woman in red chuckled again. "You have no idea how much 'hurt' I'm going to give to you!" Her body shifted and changed from a human woman to a giant red spider. "I am Arukennimon! And I have you all trapped in my web!"

The group of digimon looked down at themselves and saw that they were still attached to the white threads whose ends were in Arukennimon's hand. She grabbed hold and pulled hard, bringing them onto their backs.

"What are you?" Hiroshi asked.

Arukennimon grinned. "You'll find out soon enough, but right now there's someone else that you need to meet. I'll see you again!"

She swung the silky strands, throwing the digimon into their partners. The momentum of the impact threw them further into the forest, where they landed on the black ground. "Jeeze," Patamon said, slowly flying into the air, "She was really strong."

"She said her name was Arukennimon," Tk said, "Did anyone hear anything else?"

"That's all she said," Tatum answered, "I'm more worried about whether she's alone or not."

"To answer your question, no, she's not."

The digidestined and digimon spun around and gasped. Standing before them was a man wrapped in bandages. He held a large black shotgun in his hand. "Hi, Digidestined, I'm Mummymon, prepare to die! Snake Bandage!" He fired a stream of bandages from his left hand, wrapping the Rookie digimon tightly.

"I..I can't move!" Salamon said, struggling to free herself.

"I can't either!" Betamon exclaimed, trying to move, but Mummymon's bandages kept him tightly in place.

"Digivolve!" Kari ordered, her digivice in her hands glowing a bright light, "Break free!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon!"

"Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon!"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon!"

The Rookie digimon quickly transformed into their much larger Champion forms, easily tearing the bandages to threads. Mummymon gasped. "Ah! Well, that really doesn't matter, because I'm still stronger then you! Ha ha! Necrophobia!" He pointed his large gun at the group of assembled Champion digidestined, hitting each one with a large stream of energy from his gun. Each digimon was thrown backwards, landing on their backs.

"What's going on here?" Davis gasped, "We're getting creamed!"

"He's gotta be an Ultimate!" Exveemon shouted, "Or maybe a Mega!"

"I wish Ken was here," Kari sighed, "We could really use his Digimon Analyzer program."

Mummymon chuckled. "If you really wanted to know, why don't you just ask? Not that it's any of your business, heh heh heh, but we're all Ultimates!"

""All?'" Angemon asked, "You mean, you and Arukennimon?"

"And one other," he laughed.

"One other?" Kiwimon gasped.

"You'll meet him soon," Mummymon grinned, "I'll see you later! Ha ha!" He fired another blast from his gun into the ground, sending up a shower of stones and dirt. When the hailstorm died down, Mummymon was gone.

"Where did he go?" Seadramon roared.

"I think we've got a bigger problem!" Gatomon shouted, pointing a claw towards the black sea, "Look at that!"

The entire group turned around and stared at the black ocean, which had a massive creature slowly rising from the surface. He was a hideous monstrosity of tentacles collected into a giant figure with two bat wings attached to his back. He spoke in a gurgling voice. "I am Dragomon, I rule this land, the Dark Ocean! Welcome, Digidestined, we've been expecting you!"

"What are we doing here?" Kari demanded, "Why did you bring us here?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he laughed, "But for now, why don't I show you a taste of my power."

"Digivolve!" Kari shouted, turning to the digimon, "Right now!"

Each one of the digivices glowed their own colors: Kari orange, Tk blue, Davis gold, Catherine green, Tatum black and Hiroshi silver.

"Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

"Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

"Kiwimon digivolve to Blossumon!"

"Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachiomon!"

"Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon!"

The newly digivolved digimon jumped in front of their partners to block Dragomon's attack. The sea creature pointed a gray trident at the group and each point fired a yellow lighting bolt that hit the digimon, sending powerful lightning coursing through their bodies. "Brachiomon!" Tatum gasped, "Are you okay?"

"I've…been…better…" he moaned.

"That is enough, Dragomon!" another voice ordered. The large water digimon grunted to himself but did comply. The Digidestined digimon groaned to themselves as the attack ceased, but the damage was still to severe, and they regressed to their Rookie forms.

"Salamon, are you okay?" Kari asked.

"I'm sorry," the small mammal digimon said from where she was cradling in her partner's arms, "I just couldn't hold it…"

She hugged her partner. "Oh, Salamon…"

"Kamiya!" Hiroshi called, "I think you'd better look at this."

The brown-haired girl got to her feet and saw that Arukennimon, Mummymon and Dragomon were standing on the shoreline of the ocean, along with an adult human male. His face was ghastly pale, her long hair black and he wore a trench coat. "Welcome Digidestined."

"A human?" Davis gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Ukyo Oikawa, and it's a strange sort of pleasure to finally meet you."

The Digidestined stared at him as he slowly walked paced a small area of the beach. "Are you the one that brought us here?" Hiroshi demanded.

"Yes and no," Oikawa answered, "We may have been the ones that opened that gate in the form of a dark whirlpool, but you were the ones that flew over it. I am eager to locate your ship, perhaps you could save me the trouble?"

No one answered. Oikawa shrugged. "I guess that's understandable."

"What did you bring us here for?" Tk asked.

"Well," he grinned, "One of you is in passion of something that I need."

"What?" Kari asked.

"Oh, I think you already have an idea," he grinned.

Kari looked at the large bulge in her pockets. "The Key Cards?"

Oikawa nodded. "That's right." He mentioned to the three Ultimate digimon standing around him, "And I really don't think that your Rookie digimon are going to stand much of a chance."

Two large rockets suddenly smashed into the ground in front of Oikawa and his group. The force of the impact, unfortunately, sent the Digidestined and their partners flying backwards as well. They felt themselves land on a hard surface, some of them on their stomachs. When they opened their eyes, they could clearly see that they were flying over the ground, lying on a transparent ying/yang symbol.

Catherine jumped up, but afraid that if she moved, she might fall through to the ground below. "W..what happened?"

"Don't worry," a female voice answered, "You're safe. My force field won't fail."

The blond girl turned around and saw a fox woman wearing a white robe standing at the head of the ying/yang symbol, which was covered by a large dome. She could see that the others were there, as well as a boy and girl she did not know.

The boy smiled and stepped forward. "Hi. My name is Takato, this is my partner digimon, Guilmon."

The red dinosaur at his side gave a small wave of his hand. "Hiya."

Takato mentioned to the girl. "This is Rika, and her partner, Taomon. The large digimon flying beside us that fired those missiles is Megagargomon."

"Who are you?" Kari asked, cautiously, "Why did you save us?"

"Don't worry," Takato said, "I'll answer all of your questions just as soon as we return to base. You're safe now."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Elecmon heard the cries of the baby digimon long before he smelt the smoke or saw the fire. He dropped the net full of fish and ran as far away from the stream as he could. As he approached, the fire and smoke become even more intense, but nothing could prepare him for the sight he saw once he entered his home: Primary Village was on fire, everything was burning. As far as he could tell, the baby digimon had been deleted.

He fought back the tears as he looked around the burning village, trying to find out who could have done such an act. He felt his heart stop as he saw who was responsible, a lone yellow dinosaur, who was still shooting blasts of fire into the already burning city.

"Agumon!" he shouted, "Agumon, why…why have you done this?"

The dinosaur slowly turned around and stared at the other digimon. "A..agumon?" Elecmon asked.

Agumon began to run towards him, but as he did, his body was covered by a bright white light. His small dinosaur body shifted and changed until it became a canine form with nine tails standing from his back. "Agumon digivolve to Kyuubimon!"

Elecmon gasped. "K..Kyuubimon?"

The fox charged towards him as the tips of her tails began to glow. "Fox Tail Inferno!"

"No!" Elecmon shouted, "No!" The flames overtook his body and he was instantly deleted.

Kyuubimon looked over her back at the destroyed village, then looked forward again. "Destroy..destroy…!" she growled, "Must destroy!" Her mouth twisted in an evil grin as she disappeared into the forests.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_The Tamers are here, warriors from another world, determined to stop Oikawa from his plans to revive a creature of tremendous power. Each one is haunted by the memory of their fallen friend, Jeri Katou. _

_Next: " __Dark__Ocean__: Masters of Darkness." A new evil arises. _


	17. DARK OCEAN: Masters of Darkness

Kari here. Last time we were returning from defeating Dark SEED, when we were suddenly thrown into this weird place with a giant ocean in the center. Everything was black and dark! Our ship was damaged, so Ken, Cody, Derek and Yuehon stayed behind to repair it while the rest of us went to explore this strange place. We were attacked by the human named Oikawa who wants the Key Cards! We are about to be destroyed by him and his digimon army when we were rescued by this kid named Takato. I hope he can help us.

Dark Ocean: Masters of Darkness

Davis breathed a sigh of relief when he was once again standing on solid ground. He turned to glance at the one who called herself Taomon. He paled slightly at the fox woman. "Uh, no offense, I'm just not all that comfortable riding in something that I can see through."

The orange haired young woman crossed her arms and glanced at her partner, who began to glow brightly, and regress to a smaller form. "Jeeze, Renamon, we save his butt and he doesn't show any thanks."

"Hey, I'm thankful!" he protested, "I'm thankful!"

She huffed and turned her head away.

"Don't mind her," Takato said, "Rika's always like that."

The giant digimon that Takato called, "Megagargomon,' landed on the ground and began to glow. He split into two figures, a young man and a small dog digimon. The Digidestined cried out in shock.

"You can join with your digimon too?" Tk asked, "But, I thought only those of us with Holy Weapons could do that."

"We're…a little different," the man said, "My name's Henry, this is Terriermon."

"Please to meetcha!" the small bunny/dog waved his hand.

Rika mentioned to the others. "Now that you know who we are, why don't you tell us who you are and why you're holding the Key Cards?"

The Digidestined quickly introduced themselves and gave a short history of what had happened since Kari woke up with strange dreams about Apocalymon and the original Digidestined.

"Really?" Rika asked, raising her eyebrow, "But that still doesn't explain why you thought you needed to bring the Key Cards here."

"Excuse me if I seem a little annoyed and pushy," Hiroshi interrupted, staring at her, "But _we're_ the ones who just crashed here! We were chased by a human who looks like a ghost with hair that wants the Key Cards, and we don't have any idea where the hell we are!"

The Tamers were silent for a moment before Takato began speaking. "This is the Dark Ocean, but we don't know how it got. Ya see, we're really from another world, and the Dark Ocean is a gate between the two worlds. A sub-plain of the Digital World."

"Another world?" Tatum asked with a strange expression on her face.

"Yeah," Henry said, "We're called Tamers, and on our world we had to fight to keep a rouge program that was brought to life from destroying our world. This was called the…"

"D-reaper!" Tatum gasped, "That was the D-reaper!"

The Tamers and their digimon partners stared at her. "How did you know that?" Rika asked.

"I'm Alice," Tatum said, "I mean I was, in my past life."

"Alice?" Guilmon gasped, "You're Alice? But, how come you're still a kid, but Takato is older?"

Tatum mentioned to the other Digidestined, "I was with them when they died fighting against Apocalymon and was reborn as Tatum. That's why."

"Alice," Takato smiled, "Wow, that was sixteen years ago. Well, anyway, we fought against the D-reaper, but we couldn't stop her. She was totally unstoppable. Finally, the Sovereigns were able to seal her away in a place they hoped she'd never escape from, the Dark Ocean."

"Let me guess," Hiroshi said, "That guy, Oikawa, wants to find a way to free this

D-reaper?"

"Yup," Rika nodded.

"But why?" Catherine asked.

"Does it really matter?" the orange haired woman asked, "He wants to free something that can destroy entire worlds, I don't think the reason why is really important."

"Why does he need the Key Cards?" Tk asked.

"The seal of the Sovereigns is a dimensional one," Henry explained, "From what I understand; the Key Cards break and bend dimensions."

"Yeah," Davis said, glancing at Hiroshi, "We kinda figured that out."

"Seal?" Kari asked. Her mind was suddenly flooded by a memory of her first time in the Digital World, when she was searching for Salamon.

_Her digivice stopped beeping, so she moved it to the right, but nothing happened. She moved it to the left and it began to beep again. She was about to start walking again, when she noticed that a hooded figure was standing in her way._

_"Ah!" she jumped back. "I wish everyone would stop doing that!"_

_"My apologies," the figure said,"I only wanted to see the great hero that is going to save this world."_

_Kari smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know about that..."_

_The figure chuckled. "You are not aware of your true destiny. You may be the hero this world desires, not, that this world requires! You could be the one to break the seal, and turn back the darkness! You may be the one to save us all!"_

"Kari?" her partner asked.

"Its'… It's nothing," she smiled slightly.

"Well, it gets worse," Rika said, "That guy Oikawa, he's like some sort of…mad scientist. He does all sorts of creepy experiments." She shook her head, "He gives even _me_ the creeps!"

"Just great," Davis sighed, "What kind of.. experiments?"

"Perversions of life," Henry nodded, "Both biological and digital."

"How did the D-reaper get into your Earth?" Yolei asked.

"Through Jeri," Takato said quickly, "The D-reaper used her body, and Jeri's still inside of that creature."

"She's inside of it?" Salamon asked, "Why don't you just get her out?"

"We can't," Takato sighed, "She and D-reaper are completely bonded, and there's nothing we can do about it!"

The Digidestined stared at Takato's outburst, but Henry interrupted before they could question. "We should get going." He mentioned to the dark forest around them. "We're still out in the open."

"What about Ken and ze others?" Catherine asked.

"I don't think we'll be able to find our way back there just yet," Hawkmon said, flying into the air, "I think we're a good way away."

"They should be okay, anyway," Yolei said, "I mean, we did land in those marshes. It's the perfect cover."

"What about Myotismon?" Floramon questioned.

"He was still unconscious," Davis said, "Remember?"

"Yeah, but for how long?" Veemon asked.

"I don't think we'll be able to take you back to your ship just yet," Renamon said, "It's going to be night soon, and we need to get out of the open."

Kari nodded, "I hate to say this, but Ken and the others will just have to do the best they can."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Dragomon, Arukennimon and Mummymon stood with their hands at their sides while Oikawa paced the room, stopping every few seconds to stare at the large assemblage of machines and giant metal cylinders in front of him. Test tubes bubbled with strange liquids while an array of colored smoke filled the air.

"We need those Key Cards," he frowned, "The seal must be broken before the Armageddon!"

"Yes sir," Dragomon said.

"But how are we gonna get them, boss?" Mummymon asked, "Those Digidestined brats aren't exactly push-overs you know."

"I could just send you to take care of them," he said, glancing over his shoulder, "You screwed up when you lost their airship! I'm sure they'd put you out of my misery!"

Mummymon started shaking. "But I still need you," Oikawa frowned.

"So who are you going to send?" Dragomon asked.

Oikawa walked over to a line of giant metal cylinders attached to the brick wall. He scanned the names displayed over top until he found the one he wanted. "I think he'll do perfectly."

He reached over to a small control panel attached to the side of the cylinder. There were a variety of buttons, but he pressed the large red one at the bottom right. The outside of the metal cylinder slid open to reveal a small, circular chamber with a blue figure standing inside.

"Welcome, Blue Meramon ," Oikawa grinned.

The corrupted digimon stepped out of the open cylinder and flexed his muscles. His body was covered with blue flames. He stared at the ceiling and yelled out a yawn.

"Good, good," Oikawa grinned, "I have an important mission for you. Locate the Digidestined, destroy them all, but bring me the Key Cards. Do you understand?"

Blue Meramon growled in agreement.

"Excellent," Oikawa grinned even wider, "Find them now!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Takato nodded. "This should be good for tonight."

Salamon looked around. "Where are we?"

"It looks like a church or something," Floramon said.

"It was," Renamon said, appearing behind them, "At least, that's what we think."

The structure was made of a material that resembled marble or ivory. There were columns every ten feet or so, arranged in lines down the center, pushing up a circular ceiling. There was a large circular hole in the center, with a stain glass dome over top. The marble walls contained pictures of various digimon, as well as lines of text written in a strange language.

"We found this place a few days after we got here," Henry explained, "We examined this place, but we can't find any language that we can read." He mentioned to the writing on the walls, "It's just that form of….digital cuneiform."

"But there's something else here, yup!" Terriermon grinned.

"What?" Kari asked.

"Over here," Henry said, "Just follow me."

He led them down a hallway which had stain glass windows covering both walls. Each window contained a design of specific figure. "Who are all these?" Tatum asked.

Henry pointed to the windows. "These are deities of the Digital World, the Sovereigns, Azulongmon, Zhuqioamon, Baihumon and Ebonwumon."

"Those are the Sovereigns, huh?" Patamon asked, "Hmm, they don't look like I thought they would.."

Tk turned to Henry. "What about the Destiny Stones?"

"Destiny Stones?" Henry asked.

Tk nodded. "Yeah, each Sovereigns has a group of Destiny Stones under his area, right?"

Henry shook his head. "That's the first I heard of it."

"What about these others?" Yolei asked, "These dragons?"

"A group of great dragons that supposedly watched over the Digital World. Legend says they saved the Digital World thousands of years ago by banishing the fallen angles from the Land of the Sovereigns. According to that legend, they'll appear again when the Digital World is in danger, but their arrival will be the starting point of the end of the world."

"End of ze world?" Catherine gasped.

"The Digital World," Terriermon clarified, "Your world still gonna be safe."

"Not necessarily," Henry corrected, "Typically, what happens to one world happens to the other. I doubt Earth will make it out of it unharmed."

"What exactly is supposed to happen?" Hiroshi asked, "I mean, I know what some religions and myths say are supposed to happen at the Armageddon, but what happens in the Digital World?"

"I don't really know," Henry explained, "But what I do know is that a Dark God will return and destroy the entire Digital World."

"What Dark God?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know."

"I know where we might be able to find out," Rika said, stepping into the hallway.

"Where?" Penmon asked.

Renamon appeared behind Rika. "According to some of the natives of this Dark Ocean, there was once a Holy Book that supposedly had written in it all the lore and mythology of the Digital World. According to local folklore, the book used to be here."

"Here?" Floramon gasped, "Something like that in this disgusting place?"

"Again, it's only folklore," the fox continued, "But I bet that the Sage might know."

"The Sage?" Tk asked, "What Sage?"

"After we got here, this Sage helped us understand what was going on," Terriermon explained.

"How did you get here anyway?" Tatum asked, "I can barely remember how I passed through here to your Earth when I was Alice."

"Probably the same way," Henry said, "In our world, there's a government organization called Hypnos that monitors digital activity. The head of Hypnos, a man named Yamaki, told us that he was approached by someone called Oikawa, who was looking for a way to free the

D-reaper. Oikawa apparently came from another world and found a way there. We eventually caught up with him and followed him back here through a portal near the park."

Kari nodded. "So, can the Sage help us?"

"He might," Renamon answered.

"Then we should head there tomorrow," the brown-haired girl said, "If it's possible."

"Yeah, that'll be fine," Henry said, "I'll talk to Takato, right now, it's really late, and I think you should get some sleep. Don't worry, we'll keep watch."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Ice Mearamon walked through the forest of the Dark Ocean, his blue flames giving off an eerie light. He knelt down and examined a couple of odd shape in the dirt floor, a few shoeprints and one distinct paw print. He grinned and kept walking.

A Gizamon hopped out in front of him. The reptile digimon stopped and stared at the strange digimon in front of him. "W..what the heck are you? A Meramon, covered with ice? What..?"

Blue Meramon answered by firing a beam of blue flames at the smaller digimon, covering him in a sheet of thick ice. He ran over and smashed his fist through him, shattering the Gizamon's body seconds before it deleted.

Blue Meramon licked his lips and continued walking. A few feet behind him, Oikawa crossed his arms. "He is supposed to be locating the Digidestined and those Key Cards, not showing off his new powers!" He frowned into a scowl, "I want those cards!"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Come on Ken, come on…" Kari said, pressing the buttons on the side of her D-terminal, "Come on, Ken, you've got to be there."

"What's the matter?" Salamon asked, looking down from the top of the stone table that Kari was leaning against.

"I'm trying to contact Ken through our D-terminals, but he hasn't responded yet." She sighed, "I sent him an e-mail message telling him about what happened. I just hope he gets my message." She ran a hand through her short hair. "I could sure use a shower, my hair's a mess. Hey Yolei, do you…Yolei?" She stood up and looked around the stone room. She saw the other girls in the small stone room, but not the purple-haired girl.

The brown-haired girl walked over to where Catherine was sitting down on the floor, checking herself in the mirror. "Hey, Catherine?"

She turned and smiled at her. "Oui?"

"Do you know where Yolei is?"

"I t'ink she went to talk wit' Tk."

"Really? I wonder about what." She frowned.

"What's wrong?" Takato asked, walking over to them.

"I was just looking for Yolei," Kari replied.

"She's the one that you…?"

"Yeah," Kari nodded.

"I'm sorry," Takato said, "I know what it's like to have someone you love, and never get that love in return."

"What do you mean?" Kari asked.

Takato hesitated, silently debating whether or not to tell her. He finally sighed. "When the D-reaper invaded our Earth, it possessed Jeri Katou, a girl that I…really had feelings for. When I finally got up the courage to tell her, it wasn't even her, but that…that thing, that

D-reaper!" He stared at the ground, "I tried my best to save her, we all did, but it wasn't enough. Jeri was trapped inside of D-reaper, but we couldn't free her. We had to seal the D-reaper away, along with Jeri. She never even knew how I felt about her."

Kari and Catherine were in shock. "I…I'm sorry," Kari said, "I…I had no idea."

Takato smiled slightly as Guilmon started rub his back. "It'll be okay, Takato-mon, you'll see."

He smiled slightly at his partner. "Yeah, thanks."

Kari could not help but smile at the scene between human and digimon. She knelt down and stared to rub the back of Salamon's head. "What?"

"Nothing," the brown-haired girl grinned, "Just promise me that we'll always be friends."

"You need to get some sleep," Takato said, "It's a bit of a way to get to the Sage."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The next morning the assembled group of Tamers, Digidestineds and digimon walked through the center of the black forest, situated at the corner of the massive ocean. However, Davis thought that there probably was not anywhere in this dimension where you could _not_ see the ocean.

He looked up to the sky and saw the darkness of the morning slowly fog the area. The threes were dark, the ground was black, there was thick fog clinging to the air. He had to shake his head; this dark atmosphere was starting to affect him. Everything was dark, except for Kari, but he noticed that she always seemed to be a light in the darkness.

Davis glanced over at Tk, who was staring at Kari as well. He knew about the relationship feelings between Tk, Kari and Yolei. He glanced over at the purple-haired girl, but was surprised to see that she was not staring at Kari, but Tk.

"Hey Catherine," he whispered, mentioning to the scene, "Do you see that?"

"Oui," she nodded, "Yolei haz been ztaring at Tk zince we left."

"I wonder what's going on with those three," Davis mumbled, "I wonder if I should…"

Catherine slapped his hand. "Don't you dare! Let uz leave zem alone."

Davis rubbed the back of his hand. He should have yelled at her for that, but chose not to. "Why?"

"Because, it iz not our buiznezz," she replied, "Let zem make zeir own choice."

"Yeah," Floramon added, "Let them deal with it themselves."

"How can you act like that?" he asked, "My parents always taught me that if your friends are in trouble, you help them."

"Hey, are you guys cold?" Tatum asked, walking over to them. She saw the expressions on their faces, "What's wrong?"

"Tk, Kari and Yolei," Davis sighed, "Hey, wait, you said that you and Tk knew each other…I mean, before you died."

She nodded. "Yeah?"

"Where the two of you in love?"

Catherine hit him on the back of the head. "You're zo rude! Did your parentz teach you any manners?"

Veemon shook his head, "Not really, you should see him tip people."

Davis rubbed his injured head and glared at Catherine. He was starting to feel a drop in the temperature, but turned back to Tatum. "Well?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but Catherine shook her head. "You don't need to answer."

"Then why don't _you_ tell me?" Davis asked, "Huh? You were Mimi Tachikawa, were Matt Ishida and Sora Takenouchi ever in love?"

"I don't t'ink zo," Catherine shook her head, "But we've…you're right, it iz getting colder." She rubbed her bare shoulders.

"Well, you're the one wearing the tank-top," Davis muttered.

"It'z zummer!" she shouted.

"It's getting really cold," Betamon said, "Even for a cold-blooded digimon like me."

"Hey guys!" Davis shouted, "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm freezing!" Yolei muttered, rubbing her shoulders.

"Yeah, why did it get so cold all of a sudden?" Kari asked, the fog of her breath hissing out of her mouth.

"It's even colder then Rika out here," Terriermon commented.

"Very funny," the red-headed young woman sneered at him, "But it is freezing."

Hiroshi glanced down and gasped. "The ground, it's covered in ice!"

"What the heck is going on here?" Tk demanded, "The temperature can't drop more then fifty degrees in less then five minutes! That's impossible, even for the Digital World."

"Not this place," Takato muttered.

A freezing, shrill blast of wind shot past them, causing each one to start chattering their teeth. Patamon and Hawkmon took flight into the air and were able to break through the cold air draft. As they did, they focused on a tall black tree, which had a group of beings standing on its thick, strong branches. "I say," Hawkmon said, "I think you should look to the trees!"

The humans twisted their heads around and saw the group of four beings grinning and laughing at them. "It's them!" Hiroshi growled.

"Oikawa!" Renamon shouted.

"What do you want?" Kari demanded.

Oikawa laughed. "The Key Cards, remember? Hand them over, and you won't get hurt."

"We're not giving in!" Takato shouted.

"Digivolve!" Kari ordered.

Each Digidestined and Tamer grabbed their digivices and held them out to their partners. They waited for their partners to evolve to their next forms, but were horrified to discover that they could not. "What is going on?" Renamon asked, "I can't digivolve."

"I can't either!" Guilmon gasped, "I can't!"

Oikawa started laughing again. He pointed to one of the thick trees in the forest, seconds before it blasted apart, revealing a tall dark obelisk. "A Control Spire!" Tk gasped.

"That's right," Oikawa chuckled, "I have to hand it to you, this is a truly ingenious invention. I'm truly amazed."

Tk frowned. "It's not 'ingenious,' it's hideous! How did you get the plans for those things?"

He continued to grin. "After you left your base and gave up your position as Digimon Emperor, it was pretty easy to sneak into the remains of your base and drain your computer system. I even found the experiments that lead to the creation of Kimeramon."

"No!" Tk screamed, "You can't!"

"Don't worry, I didn't," he answered, "There isn't exactly a wide variety of digimon here, so don't worry, but your Control Spires are here and fully active. You will not be able to fight back, so prepare to die! Blue Meramon!"

His evil creation leapt out of the shadows. "What the hell is that thing?" Davis exclaimed.

"A Meramon that is made of ice, not fire," Hiroshi mumbled, "Diabolical."

"Perversions of life," Henry exclaimed, "Perversions of life!"

Oikawa grinned. "Thank you. Blue Meramon, destroy them."

"All right guys," Veemon said, "We can't digivolve, but we can armor evolve! Davis!"

The Digidestined grabbed their D-terminals and held them towards the sky. "Digi-armor energize!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Patamon armor digivolve to Ponchomon, the Warrior of Sincerity!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

"Salamon armor digivolve to Lynxmon, the Fires of Courage!"

"Amazing," Henry trailed off, "Armor digivolve?"

"We need to destroy that tower!" Lynxmon said, "The rest of us need to keep Blue Meramon busy."

"Leave the tower to me," Ponchomon said. He ran over to the black obelisk and began to slam his fists into the side. "Tequilla Punch!"

Blue Meramon waved his hand and sent a blue translucent ghost at the green cactus. "Ice Phantom!"

"Watch out, Ponchomon!" Halsemon shouted, "Eagle Eye!" Two red beams of light fired from his eyes and tore through Blue Meramon's attack. The beams of light connected with the ice digimon's chest, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Blue Thunder!" Raidramon shouted, firing his main attack into the already injured Blue Meramon.

The ice digimon grinned and shot a stream of blue flame at the canine digimon. "Cold Flame." Raidramon's front paw became covered in ice.

"Ah!" Davis shouted, "Raidramon!"

"Ice Phantom." Blue Meramon waved his hand again and his familiar blue phantom appeared. It merged with Raidramon and covered him with a complete sheet of ice.

"Oh no, Raidramon!" Davis shouted at his frozen partner, "Raidramon!"

Blue Meramon pointed his hand at the Control Spire and fired another Ice Phantom. Ponchomon leapt out of the way, but Blue Meramon's attack covered the entire tower in ice, affectively shielding it from any attack. Ponchomon tried valiantly to break through the ice with his punches, but it was not any use.

Kari turned to her armored partner. "You can melt that ice! Let's go!"

Lynxmon nodded. She leapt into the air and shouted, "Thermal Mane!" A stream of reddish orange leapt off of her back and headed towards the frozen Raidramon. Blue Meramon sent one of his Ice Phantoms to absorb the attack instead. The ice digimon grinned and sent another Ice Phantom to directly attack the fire digimon. Lynxmon was covered in ice and her flames lingered to nothing. She quickly returned to her Salamon form and landed on the ground.

"Salamon!" Kari shouted. She ran over to grab her partner, but Blue Meramon covered the rookie digimon in a sea of ice.

"Salamon, hang on," Halsemon called. He and Ponchomon charged over to attempt to free her, but they were trapped in Blue Meramon's ice as well.

The evil ice digimon grinned as he towered over Kari.

"Get those Key Cards!" Oikawa order, from the top of the tree.

Blue Meramon grinned and lifted his ice covered hand when he was attacked by a bolt of electricity.

"Electric Shock!" Tatum's Betamon shouted, followed shortly by a blast of wind from Terriermon's 'Terrier Tornado,' and a stream of sharp cuts from Renamon's Diamond Storm.

"Endless Slap!" Hiroshi's Penmon shouted, leaping at Blue Meramon and continuously slapping his face with his purple flippers.

"That's it!" Hiroshi shouted, "Keep him on the ropes! Keep fighting!"

"Keep him busy, Renamon!" Rika ordered.

While the other digimon kept the evil ice beast occupied, Guilmon and Takato quietly crept around behind Raidramon. "Pyro Sphere!" the dinosaur shouted, firing his small red blast into the ice around the frozen digimon. The ice melted slightly.

"Good work," Takato said, "Now keep it up."

Blue Meramon was finally able to get his hand up to his face and bat Penmon into the ground. Renamon dropped down in front of him, and both of them were covered in the Ice Phantom attack. Betamon and Terriermon tried to fight back, but they too were soon covered in ice.

"Excellent work," Oikawa shouted, "Now, get me those Key Cards!"

Blue Meramon quickly grabbed Kari at the shoulders and lifted her up. She could feel the extreme cold against her bare arms. She tried to fight, but felt her body start to feel the affects and started to drop into unconsciousness. "I can't give up," Kari shouted, struggling to stay awake, "I..I can't…"

"Put her down!" Davis shouted. He grabbed a black stick from off of the ground and charged at the ice digimon.

"Daviz!" Catherine shouted, "What are you doing?"

"Davis, don't' be foolish!" Takato tried to warn, "He'll cream you!"

"I've got to save her!" he shouted, "It doesn't matter what happens to me!"

Suddenly, a bright orange light exploded from Kari's D-terminal, where she had dropped it on the ground. The orange light filled the entire battlefield. It grew with intensity as a odd shaped object rose out of the screen. "The Digi-metal of Courage?" Davis gasped.

The orange egg shot across the battlefield and shot through the ice sheet that covered Raidramon. The canine digimon was covered in bright orange light, and the ice exploded around him. The Digi-metal of Courage and Veemon floated into the air.

**Veemon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Courage began to twirl around in synch. "Veemon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in fire and light, as the images of Agumon, Greymon, Metalgreymon and Wargreymon flashed behind him. The flames receded to reveal two orange gauntlets with three claws. The flames receded to reveal a sharp blade at the end of an armored helmet. Geysers of flames erupted behind the humanoid digimon.**

**"Flamedramon, the Fires of Courage!"**

"Flamedramon?" Davis gasped, "You digivolved using the Digi-metal of Courage!

Flamedramon turned to him. "But..but how?"

"It doesn't matter right now," Takato shouted, pointing at the Control Spire, "Destroy that ice! Guilmon will free Kari."

Davis nodded. "Do it!"

Flamedramon leapt into the air and pointed his two gauntlets at the ice-covered Control Spire. A series of red fireballs exploded on the surface of the ice shield completely melting it.

Blue Meramon glared at the tower. He did not see Guilmon run up in front of him and fire a Pyro Sphere into his arm. The ice digimon shouted in pain and dropped Kari to the ground. Takato leapt in front of him, grabbed Kari, then jumped back. Blue Meramon ignored Takato and Kari and turned his attention back to the Control Spire. Flamedramon had melted the ice, and was now about to destroy it.

"Fire Knuckles!"

The gauntlets on the armored digimon's hands were covered in a sea of red flame. He smashed both sets of claws into the base of the black obelisk. The tower cracked, then collapsed.

"No!" Oikawa shouted.

"Great, but our digimon are still frozen!" Yolei pointed out.

Takato patted Guilmon's head. "Leave him to us." He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Watch, you're gonna love this."

Takato's digivice broke in his hands, and his body was covered by a bright light, melting away his clothes. He merged together with his partner, changing into a impressive knight with white armor and a flowing red cape. "Guilmon bio-merge to Gallantmon!"

The Digidestined were awestruck at the massive figure before them. "G..gallantmon?" Tk gasped.

Davis had to blink a few times to make sure he was not seeing things. He turned to look at Rika and Henry. "You can fuse with your digimon too?"

Henry nodded. "It's called bio-merge. And from what you told us, you only fuse with your digimon, when we join with our partners, we digivolve to the mega level."

"He's a mega! Wow!"

Blue Meramon jumped and fired his Ice Phantom from the air, hoping to catch Gallantmon off guard. The mega digimon brought his shield above his head and easily deflected the attack. Gallantmon swung his glowing lance at Blue Meramon and fired a blast of white electricity.

"Lightning Joust!" he shouted in a mixture of Guilmon and Takato's voice. His attack ripped through the ice digimon's stomach, and Blue Meramon was destroyed. Instantly, the frozen digimon were returned to normal.

Kari slowly opened her eyes. "W..what happened?"

"We won," Davis grinned.

Gallantmon turned towards Oikawa and his evil group. "Now, what do we do with you?"

"Nothing," Oikawa replied simply.

"Oh really?" Hiroshi asked, "Your Control Spire is destroyed and all of our digimon can digivolve again. I think you're doomed."

The evil human chuckled. "Same old Hiroshi. Despite the circumstances, it is good to see you again."

Hiroshi stared at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"You really don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?" he shouted, "What?"

Oikawa shook his head. "Memory manipulation, that's what."

"What are you talking about?" he shouted, "I was the Lord of Dark SEED! No one manipulates me!"

Oikawa roared with laughter. "Are you so sure? Well, let me tell you something that's gonna send chills to your very soul, tainted as it is. I once ruled Dark SEED!"

The other Digidestined stared at Hiroshi, who pointed his finger at the evil human. "_You_ ruled Dark SEED? Ha! You're got to be kidding me, a pathetic old man who looks like he's about to croak at any second? Yeah right!"

"You'd better believe it," he said, "Don't you think it's odd that a teenager could have control of a powerful organization like Dark SEED?"

"That's because of me!" Penmon pointed to himself.

"Yes, that's right," Oikawa nodded, "I remember when you first meet Hiroshi here. I remember it quite clearly."

"You're not fooling me," Hiroshi said.

"Then tell me, please, enlighten me. When did you take control of Dark SEED? When did you first enter the Digital World? Why don't you just tell me when you first met Penmon."

Hiroshi stuttered, "I…I…I…"

Oikawa grinned triumphantly. "I rest my case." He bowed. "And now, I shall take my leave of you."

"You're not getting away!" Gallantmon shouted.

"I have no intention of leaving, for, you see, you haven't been talking to me at all, but just a biological contrast which I've been operating by remote control. Farewell." His body suddenly started shaking, and he melted into a blob of flesh and blood.

"Eww!" Catherine and Floramon exclaimed.

"He almost beat us," Kari said, "How did we win anyway?"

Davis and Veemon glanced at each other. "Well, you see…"

Penmon stared up at his partner. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not!" Hiroshi growled, clenching his fists, "What the hell is going on here?"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

_Preview: _

_The __Dark__Ocean__ was not always evil, it was once the place of the Gods. As the Digidestined and Tamers search for answer, Catherine and Rika experience a falling out. Are Rika's memories to blame? _

_Next: " __Dark__Ocean__: The Sage of the __Dark__Ocean__." Making new friends can be one of the hardest tasks of all. _

Author's note: All right, I finally finished this chapter. This took much longer to write then normal, so I apologize for the delay. Things might seem kind of boring right now, but I promise things are going to get much more interesting in the next few chapters.

I know that I didn't really explain that much about Oikawa and the Tamers, but I don't want to unload everything at once, so there will be more in the next few chapters.

See ya next time.


	18. DARK OCEAN: The Sage of the Dark Ocean

Tk here. Last time, Takato and the other Tamers told us that the Dark Ocean was a gateway to their own dimension and that Oikawa was here to release some kind of unstoppable being called D-reaper. We made our way to talk to the Sage of the Dark Ocean, and we were attacked by one of Oikawa's creations, Blue Meramon. He froze all of our digimon in ice, until Davis somehow was able to use the Digi-metal of Courage and Veemon armor evolved into Flamedramon. After destroying the Control Spire, Takato and Guilmon bio-merged into Gallantmon and destroyed Blue Meramon. Our surprises weren't over however, Oikawa revealed that _he_ was once the ruler of Dark SEED!

DARK OCEAN: The Sage of the Dark Ocean

Oikawa hummed to himself as he walked through his laboratory, smiling in near ecstasy as he heard the sound of bubbling liquid and smelled the sent of burning chemicals. "Ahh…It's…enticing."

Arukennimon and Mummymon stared at him, but Dragomon grinned in agreement. Their evil master continued, "I need a digimon powerful enough to get the Key Cards."

"What's wrong with us?" Mummymon asked.

Oikawa shook his head. "No, it's not time for us to fight yet. The Digidestined and Tamer digimon would become too use to our fighting styles. When the time comes…" he clenched his fist, "…we'll crush them!"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The Digidestined and the Tamers had set up camp for the night in an area of the dark forest. They had managed to find some twigs and branches that were not so badly decomposed that they would still act as sufficient fuel for their small campfire. None of the group was talking, just staring into the darkness. Almost all of the humans were deep in thought, thinking over the surprising events that occurred earlier in the day.

Hiroshi was thinking over what Oikawa had said, that _he_ was once the leader of Dark SEED, and that Hiroshi's mind was filled with the possible repercussions of this revelation. Oikawa said that his mind had been tampered with, his memories altered. Penmon did not was just as confused as he was. If he could only talk to Yuehon, maybe she could help, but none of the communicators were working.

Davis, Kari and their digimon were thinking of Kari's apparent lose of the Digimetal of Courage to Davis. During their battle against Blue Meramon, Veemon was able to armor digivolve into Flamedramon. It seemed that was Kari had always feared was coming true, that she would lose her powers to Davis, the true owner of courage. The goggle wearer was thinking about how he was able to bring the Digimetal to his partner because he wanted, with all of his might, to stop that from happening if it came to the Crest of Courage. Kari was thinking about what she would do if she lost the Crest of Courage.

Tk's mind kept replaying the scene of the Dark Towers appearing out of the ground, stopping their digimon from evolving. Oikawa said that he got the plans for the Control Spires from his old base, but was he telling the truth? He said he knew more about Hiroshi's past, could he know something about Tk too?

"Jeeze, this looks like a prison photo or something," Terriermon muttered.

"Terriermon!" Henry shouted.

"We've just got a lot on our minds," Kari said, smiling slightly.

Takato walked over and sat down next to her. "Well, I think maybe you should give your mind a rest and get some sleep."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about us," he said, "You're our guests, please."

Kari nodded and rested her back against one of the trees surrounding the area. She closed her eyes and soon fell fast asleep. Her body may have been resting, but her mind gave her no rest. She dreamed of herself, but in her past life, as Tai.

_Tai was fighting someone, but he could not tell who. Wargreymon was battling an enemy, almost draped in shadows, but he did not know if it was because of his poor memory or the creature's connection to evil. He watched as Wargreymon was suddenly smashed in the chest by a black projectile, almost a missile. He fell over and landed on his back._

_ "Wargreymon!" Tai shouted, running over to him, "Are you okay?"_

_ The dinosaur digimon jumped to his feet and quickly jumped in front of his partner, a blast of blue life almost destroying him. Koromon fell into Tai's arms. "Koromon…Koromon…are you okay?"_

_ He slowly looked up at the dark figures before him. "How could you do this? How?"_

_ The two dark figures standing before him suddenly faded from view. Tai looked down at himself and gasped. He had changed back into Kari, with Nyaromon in her arms._

_ She twisted her head around, but instead of the forest battlefield, she was floating in a sea of darkness. She suddenly felt a strange, almost over-powering evil. She glanced straight up and saw a group of human figures. She could not see any of their faces or their bodies, as they were completely covered in hooded trench coats. Most of them were hidden in the shadows, but one figure floated forward. She could see the color of this one's coat, dark brown, almost black. She could not see his face, but when he spoke, she knew he was a male._

_ "Courage will fail, the virtues will disappear, and from light and hope, will come, darkness! Armageddon will begin, the pieces are almost in place!"_

_ The cloaked figures floated out of the way as a giant being draped in absolute darkness appeared in the center. Kari could only guess that it opened its mouth to utter a soul clenching scream._

_ She was about to question them, but the sea of darkness suddenly begin to start spinning around her. She felt herself being forcibly pulled towards the ground. _

_ "…the pieces are almost in place."_

She gave a small yelp and bolted awake. "Kari?" Takato asked, "Are you okay?"

The brown-haired girl started panting as she placed her hand on her forehead. She was sweating. "It was a dream," she swallowed, "Just...just a dream." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, "Just a dream."

"Are you sure?" Takato asked, sitting down beside her.

The young woman looked around the campsite. Everyone else was fast asleep, only she and Takato were awake. She took another breath. "Takato, can I talk to you, I mean, _really_ talk to you?"

The goggle-wearing Tamer nodded. "Well, we did just meet. So, if you think I can help then go right ahead."

She smiled slightly. "Actually, I think that out of everyone here, _you're_ the only one that would understand."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because you're the leader of your own group," she sighed, "I'm sure you understand what it feels like to always try to put up a brave front, when you just really want to be scared and run away."

Takato stared at her. "What's wrong, Kari. Really?"

She took a very deep breath. "Everything. After I finally accepted who I am now, the Digimetal of Courage went to Davis."

"Are you sure it's really his?" Takato asked, "Can't you call it back or something?"

She shook her head. "It's really hard to explain, but I had the Digi-metal since I found Salamon, and I've always been able to..well, _feel_ it, I guess." She stared at the ground. "I can't feel it anymore. And now I just had this strange dream. A group of figures, evil figures, told me that my Courage powers would fail."

"Are you sure it just wasn't a bad dream?"

Kari nodded her head. "Yes. It couldn't have been. Whoever those evil humans are…." She shivered.

He nodded. "Who do you think they are?"

She shook her head. "I don't have any idea, and that scares me. Takato, I'm scared, I mean really scared." She sighed, "And I don't know what to do."

The next morning, the Digidestined and their new allies continued to walk through the dark forest. The beginning part of the journey started in silence until Catherine asked the Tamers about their lives. Takato gave a small overview of his history but Henry quickly spoke about his past, including his sister.

"Her name was Suzie," he smiled slightly, "After Terriermon and I went into our dimensions Digital World, she followed us. As it turns out, her digimon partner would turn out to be Lopmon."

"Lopmon?" Salamon asked.

"She sort of looks like me," Terriermon said, "Except I'm vanilla and she's chocolate."

"Terriermon, that's not very nice," Henry scowled him.

"What happened to your sister?" Yolei asked.

"She's still alive, if that's what you're wondering," Henry smiled slightly, "We figured that this mission might be too dangerous for her, so she's still in our reality, despite her protests."

Catherine smiled, then noticed Rika and Renamon walking beside her. She approached the young woman. "Pardon, Rika, but what about you?"

"Sorry," Rika said, raising her palm, "I decline. I don't want to get 'chummy," if you get want I mean. After this mission, we'll go back to our own worlds, and probably never see each other again. I'd rather not lose more friends, so let's not become them, alright?"

"Rika!" Renamon snapped. "Please forgive her, she's been moody lately."

The red-headed woman huffed and turned away from the younger blond girl. "Just…we'll work together, alright?"

Catherine snapped back. "Well, zen be zat way! Zee if I care!" This girl gave a similar huff, crossed her arms and turned her head away.

The path came to an end overlooking a clearing in the dark forest. A collection of buildings sat in the center; it seemed to be an illumination in this dark, dreary world. "This is it," Takato said, "This is the Sage's village."

The group followed the path as it twisted and turned around the dark trees. In a short time, they exited the forest and entered the village. They were greeted by a group of Chuchidarumon, Frigimon made of mud, not snow. They lead them inside the largest building, whose first floor contained nothing more then a large, carpeted room, with torches arranged in a row in the center, giving off a rainbow of colors. A lone figure knelt in the center, dressed in brown robes and a gray cowl. The three Tamers and their digimon partners knelt before him and mentioned to the Digidestined and their partners to do the same. The figure stared at Takato, Henry, Guilmon and Terriermon and nodded a slight greeting. "Welcome back, my sons," he glanced at Rika and Renamon, "and my daughters."

"Honorable Sage," Takato said, "These are the Digidestined. We have come here to seek your advice on how we may defeat Oikawa and stop the revival of the D-reaper."

The Sage of the Dark Ocean glanced at the group of younger teenagers. "I am Wisemon, welcome."

Kari nodded. "Yes, thank you for meeting with us."

Wisemon chuckled warmly. "You wish to know more about this land?"

"Yes," Henry said, "Specifically, the Holy Book."

Wisemon held up his finger. "Ah yes, the Holy Book. The Holy Book…yes." He took a breath. "Well, maybe I should start at the very beginning; the world was a dark and chaotic void. No one knows how long, but soon two deities appeared, one of light, and one of dark. At the beginning, they were simply opposite components of the same void. However, they soon began to desire the other's half. They battled for millennia, but an fortunate consequence of their war was the creation of the Digital World, which was willed from their very minds. As they continued to fight, their unconscious minds continued to create, bringing into creation beings similar to the two deities, called Digimon. When the light deity saw what he had created, he saw an opportunity to lead these Digimon to peace, instead of war. He then stopped his hostilities, but the dark god did not. The light god lead the digimon into battle, and the dark god was finally defeated, but he promised that one day, his power would return in a new digimon.

The light god, however, used up far too much of his own power, and passed on as well, but not before sending his powers to four digimon, who would be called Sovereigns. They protected and watched over the Digital World, from a special place that they set aside for themselves. This, "Land of the Sovereigns," where they sealed away the D-reaper, is here."

"Here?" Davis gasped, "This place?"

"Correct. The energy used to trap the D-reaper, drained the sacred energy of their land, allowing evil to infest it. The Sovereigns could no longer live in such a place, so they departed to an unknown land, but they knew that if they left, their power would no longer be felt here, and the D-reaper would be freed. So, the Sovereigns erected four towers in the four directions of the Dark Ocean. I was the chief record keeper for the Sovereigns, but I chose to remain here, to guide any travelers that may arrive here. One day, a traveler came here, but I could not detect his evil, because he came in the guise of one that I had never seen before, a human. That man, Oikawa, deceived me and stole the Holy Book, containing the mythology of the Digital World. That book also told him how to disable the D-reaper's prison."

"How is that?" Tk asked, "Through the Key Cards?"

Wisemon nodded. "Yes. In order to disable the shield, the four towers must be either destroyed or occupied with evil. Then, using the Key Cards, which have the power to puncture dimensions, create a pathway that the D-reaper can use to free itself."

"All right, I think I got it," Veemon said, "We just have to keep the Key Cards safe and stop those towers from being destroyed."

"It'll probably be a lot hard then that," Tatumon's Betamon added.

"Where do we start?" Takato asked.

"The Tower of Baihumon, the Tiger God, is near here. Our spies have found evidence that Oikawa is going to began attacking the towers soon."

"Okay," Kari said, "We should split up, and try to defend each tower. Hopefully, that will work. We should head out soon."

Wisemon nodded. "Please, allow my villagers and I to give you as many supplies as you need. Rest for now, after your long journey. Please."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Oikawa turned away from his machines and faced Dragomon as he entered the laboratory. "What do you have to report?"

"We've located the four towers."

Oikawa's face contorted into an evil grin. "Excellent. Excellent."

"I shall assemble a team to…" Oikawa held up his hand.

"Yes, yes, but I think that I will send another one of my constructs along to help."

He walked past the large, test-tube shaped containers until he stopped at the second one to the right, the last one being the form cell of Blue Meramon. He pressed the button on the side and the massive cylinder slid open. An equally as gigantic dinosaur covered with metal armor stepped out. "Ahh, Metal Tyranomon," Oikawa nodded, "Can you understand me?"

The giant dinosaur nodded slowly.

"Excellent," the human said again, "Your mission is to destroy the first of the Sovereign towers. Do not let anything stand in your way, understand?"

Metal Tyranomon roared. "Good," Oikawa nodded, "Now go."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

While the forces of darkness made their way to the four towers, the assembled warriors of the Digidestined and Tamers rested in Wisemon's village, waiting for their preparations to be complete so they could continue on their way.

Catherine and Floramon walked into one of the huts that they thought was empty. They were slightly surprised when they saw Rika and Renamon seated on a large couch in the center. "Bonjour," the blond girl said.

"Hello to you too," Rika nodded.

Catherine sighed. "Tell me, why do you hate me zo much?"

"I never said I hated you," the orange-haired girl muttered.

"Zen why do you keep ignoring me when I try to ask you questionz?"

"Because maybe I'm not particularly interested in becoming friends with a bubble-headed blond!"

"What?" Catherine shrieked.

"That's right," Rika said, "I don't need any friends, I'm perfectly fine being alone." She glanced at her partner, "With the exception of Renamon."

Catherine glared at her. "Well, fine zen! Come on, Floramon, let'z leave zem to zeir selves!" She stormed out of the hut with her digimon partner following right behined.

The fox woman turned towards her human Tamer. "Rika…?"

"I don't need anymore friends that are just going to end up leaving me!" she shouted, "That's what happens whenever I make a new friend, they end up leaving me!"

The fox woman took a step closer. "Rika…?"

"Quiet, Renamon!" the orange-haired girl snapped, plopping back down on the couch, "Just…quiet."

In another hut, Hiroshi and Penmon were staring at a small fire, whose smoke was rising through a make-shift chimney. Tk and Patamon joined them. The former leader of Dark SEED glanced at him, but turned his attention back.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tk asked with a slight smile.

Hiroshi sighed deeply. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"I was just wondering about what that guy, Oikawa, said. About how he use to rule Dark SEED, and that I had my memory manipulated with so I wouldn't remember him." He sighed, "But, if what he said was true, then who did that to my mind?"

"Him?" Penmon asked.

Hiroshi stared at his hands. "What if I'm not what I think I am?"

Tk nodded. "Yeah, I know what it's like to have your own memories turn against you. I thought there were so many things I knew about who I was, but not only do I find out that I use to be my own brother, but that I can't even remember everything that happened to me as I am now."

Hiroshi took a deep breath, then turned to stare at him. "Just so you know, I had nothing to do with you becoming the Digimon Emperor."

Tk was shocked, so much that he did not know what to say. He just nodded. "Yeah."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"And why do you think this dream bothers you so much?" Wisemon asked.

Kari looked him straight in his glowing eyes. "Because they spoke about Armageddon. I think I saw whatever it was that is going to destroy the world."

Takato stepped forward. "Do you know anything."

Wisemon shook his head.. "No, I'm sorry.. Maybe it was only a dream created by your fear of the future, maybe?"

Kari shook her head. "No, it was real, I know it was. Something's going to happen, something real soon, and the entire Digital World's going to be affected."

Wisemon was about to respond, when one of the Chuchidarumon ran into the hut. "Sir! The Tower of Baihumon is under attack!"

Kari jumped up. "What?"

"Yes," the Chuchidarumon nodded, "It looks like a Tyranomon, but covered in metal."

"One of Oikawa's experiments," Takato growled.

"I'll get the others," Kari said, "You get directions."

Takato nodded. "Right."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Tower of Baihumon stood in a large clearing in the center of the forest. The mile-wide diameter contained no trees, and almost resembled a wasteland. Dragomon marched up to the white tower that stretched high into the sky. "Ah, the first tower to fall." He turned to the massive digimon beside him. "Metal Tyranomon, destroy it."

The metal dinosaur roared and pointed one of his palms at the tall, pointed building. Only a single door rested in the center on the base, and this was Metal Tyranomon's target. A red missile shot out of his extended palm but detonated a few feet in front of the tower. A wave rippled around the building, but a large crack remained where Metal Tyranomon had attacked.

"A shield?" Dragomon gasped, "I didn't know about that. Hmm…" He focused on the crack, "But not an impregnable one. This could take time, but we'll complete our mission."

"Hey squid-breath!"

Dragomon and Metal Tyranomon spun around and saw the combined forces of the Digidestined and the Tamers running towards them through the dark forest. Davis was grinning as he pointed at the two digimon. "Oh look, squid-breath has a friend."

Dragomon snarled. "And what if I do? My..'friend,' here, can do more damage then all of you put together!"

"Really?" the goggle-wearer continued, "Because from my view, it looks like we outnumber you."

Dragomon lifted up one of his tentacle hands and flicked them together, almost like he was snapping. A squadron of Gizamon suddenly came crashing through the forest. "I believe _we_ know outnumber you, but just to un-even the odds…" He flicked his tentacles again, and a familiar black tower jutted through the surface of the ground.

"A Control Spire!" Patamon gasped, "Not again."

"We can't evolve," Salamon frowned, "And I don't have my armor anymore."

Kari stared at her partner. "Oh no, you're right!"

Tk stared at her, unsure of how to approach her. He finally ran over and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, it's all right. We'll deal with it."

Veemon glanced at the other digimon that would be able to armor evolve. "Let's do it!"

Davis, Yolei and Tk reached for their D-terminals. "Digi-armor energize!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Patamon armor digivolve to Ponchomon, the Warrior of Sincerity!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship!"

Dragomon chuckled. "You think that you're really a match for us? Ha! Metal Tyranomon, continued your assault on the tower, Gizamon, protect us."

The army of water digimon leapt forward. The armored digimon lead the attack, while the other digimon helped as best they could. Each Gizamon seemed to be stronger and more powerful then a normal Gizamon, no doubt due to Oikawa's experimentations.

"Frog Kick!" a Gizamon shouted, leaping forward and curling into a ball to slam the blade on his back into Guilmon's arm.

"Ah!" the red dinosaur shouted, clutching his arm. He stepped backwards, but this gave another Gizamon a chance to run up behind him. Luckily, Salamon came to his rescue and attacked with her Puppy Howling, which caused the Gizamon to clutch his ears. Guilmon smacked him aside with a flick of his tail.

Floramon quickly ran to the aide of Penmon, who was being attacked on all sides. "Rain of Pollen!" A cloud of pollen spores appeared over the Gizamon, covering them with a layer of pollen. They instantly fell asleep.

"Thanks," the blue bird muttered quickly, "But there are plenty more where they came from."

"And they're not even the real problem!" Renamon shouted, leaping into the air and drop-kicking a Gizamon into the ground. She mentioned to Metal Tyranomon and Dragomon, "We've got to get over there."

"Maybe the armored ones should get over there," Terriermon suggested.

"We can't leave you_, amigos_!" Raidramon said.

"We'll be fine," Guilmon said, "Go before it's too late!"

"All right!" Raidramon shouted, "Ponchomon, Halsemon, let's go!" The armored canine leapt through the army of Gizamon, while Ponchomon simply smashed through. Halsemon shot over top and began to twirl around in his Tempest Wing attack. He tried to slam into Metal Tyranomon's back, but Dragomon cut in and threw him into the ground.

"Tequila Punch!" Ponchomon cried, slamming his fists into Dragomon's back. The squid digimon spun around, throwing the giant cactus onto the ground. The evil creation began to pound his fists into chest, despite his screams of protest and pain. Dragomon reached behind his back and pulled out a long, white trident. He pointed the sharps ends directly at Ponchomon and shouted, "Forbidden Trident!" Each of the three points fired a bolt of black lighting into the cactus. Ponchomon's entire body began to spasm with black electricity. His body glowed bright white a second later, and returned him to his Patamon form.

"Patamon!" Tk shouted. He instinctively started to run towards him, but he was stopped by Davis.

"Raidramon!" the goggle-wearer shouted, "Stop him!"

The armored canine fired his Blue Thunder attack, but Dragomon sent it flying backwards with a flick of his trident. He then jutted forward his free palm. "Thousand Waves!" A series of water circles began to fire out of his palm and slam into Raidramon with such force and frequency that Raidramon returned to Veemon.

"Oh no!" Tatum gasped.

"Patamon!" Tk shouted, "I'll save you!" He once again started to run forward, but once again, Davis stopped him.

"Don't!"

"Let me go! Patamon's in trouble!"

"So's Veemon!" Davis shouted, "You don't have to do it alone, we're friends, remember?"

Tk stared at him. "I…I never really thought about it like that before…"

Davis hesitated slightly before saying, "I know that guys really aren't supposed to talk about stuff like this, but, yeah, we're buds, aren't we? I mean, everyone makes mistakes, but that why we have friends, to forgive each other! You're my friend!"

Suddenly, a bright light exploded from Tk's D-terminal, while a similar light emerged from Davis's digivice. The Digi-metal of Sincerity emerged from Tk's D-terminal and landed in Davis's hand.

The blond stared at Davis, but the goggle-wearer jumped to his feet. "Veemon! Digi-armor energize!"

**Veemon began to twist around in place as the Digimetal of Sincerity began to twirl around in synch. "Veemon armor digivolve to…" **

**The egg and the digimon were pulled towards one another and merged together, exploding in green light, as the images of Palmon, Togemon and Lillymon flashed behind him. The green light receded to reveal a wooden gauntlet holding a wooden sword on the left hand. The green light receded to reveal a wooden gauntlet holding a wooden sword on the right hand. The light finally receded to reveal a white mask pushing down red hair.**

**"Yashamon, the Warrior of Sincerity!"**

"Way to go!" Davis shouted, "Yashamon, destroy that control spire so Patamon and the others can digivolve!"

The warrior nodded to himself and charged towards the black tower. He was about to attack with his swords when Metal Tyranomon jumped in front of him and swiped him away with a simple flick of his tail.

Back at the battle against the Gizamon, the still-rookie digimon were attempting to hold their own long enough for the other armored digimon to either destroy the Control Spire or complete their mission on their own and stop Dragomon and Metal Tyranomon.

"Electric Shock!" Tatum's Betamon cried, firing a bolt of white lightning into a Gizamon. "Man, we can't keep this up much longer!"

"We just have to survive," Penmon called, "We can do it!"

"That might be slightly easier said then done," Renamon shouted back, executing her Diamond Storm attack, tearing through an invading Gizamon. Unfortunately, that Gizamon was a sacrificial lamb, destroying himself to allow a group of five Gizamon to charge up behind her. Floramon was the only one of her allies that could help her.

"Renamon!" the flower digimon shouted, "Look out! Oh, it's no good, she'll never turn around in time." She started to run forward and raised her hands into the air, "Rain of Poll..! Ahh!"

She screamed out in pain as the Gizamon that were attacking Renamon turned around and executed their Spiral Edge attack, firing a spinning blade into the plant's stomach.

"Floramon!" Catherine cried. She pushed past the other Digidestined and Tamers and ran to help her partner. The Gizamons saw this and began to charge at her.

Rika stared with horror. "Catherine!" she gasped, "She's gonna get herself killed…but…but she just wants to help her partner….just like Jeri." She stared at the blond girl in the red t-shirt and reddish jeans and momentarily saw a light brown haired girl in a green dress.

"Catherine!" she screamed. Her digivice broke in her hands, and her body was covered by a bright light, melting away her clothes. She merged together with her partner, changing into a woman wearing black and yellow armor with the helmet in the shape of fox and carrying a staff. "Renamon bio-merge to Sakuyamon!"

When the light faded, the entire battle stopped as everyone stared at the bio-merged mega. "That's impossible!" Dragomon shouted, "The Control Spire is still standing!"

"How did they bio-merge?" Takato asked.

"I bet Ken would have an idea," Kari said, "Man, I wish he was here."

"This doesn't make sense," Tk said, "Only armor digivolving should work where a Control Spire is present."

"Wait a second!" Henry said, "Those Control Spires where made in your world, not in ours! I bet our digimon have a different system of evolution! It probably only took them a few days of being exposed to the Spires to develop an immunity!"

"What?" Dragomon shouted. He stared at the three Tamer digimon, "You mean you can…?"

"Oh yeah!" Terriermon grinned, "You'd better believe it!"

"I'll handle this," Sakuyamon said in her duel voice of Rika and Renamon. She easily deleted the Gizamon that were threatening Catherine and Floramon, then jumped into the sky and shot over to the Control Spire. She swung her staff and two beams of crescent light sliced through the center of the tower. It instantly collapsed into itself.

"All right!" Kari cheered, "Salamon!"

Her partner leapt into the air, "Digimon, digivolve!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

"Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon!"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon!"

"Guilmon digivolve to Growlmon!"

"Terriermon digivolve to Gargomon!"

Each of the digivolved Champion digimon began to tear through the Gizamon army, while Sakuyamon mentioned to Yashamon and Halsemon. "Let's go."

Metal Tyranomon stared at the two armored digimon, but focused on the mega digimon hovering before him. He gave a small growl, then quickly spun around, letting his tail act like a whip. Sakuyamon held up her staff, but she was not Metal Tyranomon's target. His thick, metal tail slammed into the crack in the protective seal around the tower. Cracks spread through the entire shield seconds before it shattered.

"He broke through it!" Henry gasped.

"Stop him!" Takato shouted, "Stop him now!"

Metal Tyranomon pointed his palm and fired a missile at Sakuyamon. The fox woman held her staff perpendicular to her body in an attempt to block the attack. Unfortunately, the impact still threw her back.

Yashamon attacked with his twin swords, but the armored digimon's attack had little to no affect on the massive Ultimate. Sakuyamon quickly recovered from Metal Tyranomon's first attack and was heading towards his back when Dragomon leapt down on top of her.

"Metal Tyranomon!" he screamed, "Finish the job, now!"

The metal beast nodded and stared at the Tower of Baihumon in front of him. Once again, he focused on the lone door near the bottom. He opened his mouth wide and fired a beam of intense red light. "Nuclear Laser!"

The blast tore through the entrance and blew out the walls on the base around the base of the tall, pointed tower. The entire building collapsed in on itself, falling straight downward into a pile of debris and smoke.

"The first tower has fallen!" Dragomon laughed. Sakuyamon took that moment while he was distracted to kick him off of her. She flew back into the air and shot towards Metal Tyranomon. "Yashamon!" she shouted, "Cut me an opening!"

The new Warrior of Sincerity nodded and leapt into the air. He swung his twin swords out in front of him, creating a green shockwave that resonated through the air, heading straight towards Metal Tyranonmon's back, slicing off a portion of his metal armor.

Sakuyamon swung her staff in front of her, creating twin crescents of light. "Vajra Mandala!" The beams of light shot through the air and entered the opening created by Yashamon. Metal Tyranomon roared a final time as his body shattered.

The Gizamon army had been defeated and Metal Tyranomon was gone. The group gave a silent cheer, but Dragomon sneered. "So what? We still completed our mission and destroyed the Tower of Baihumon. Three more towers remain," he pointed a tentacle at Kari, "And once we take the Key Cards, we'll have the keys to releasing the most power agent of destruction the Digital World has ever seen! Hahahaha!" He pointed his hands at the ground beneath him and a large, circular disc of thick, black water appeared. He jumped on top as it shot into the sky.

"You won't get away that easily!" Yolei shouted, "Halsemon…"

"Let him go," Kari said, "No sense running after him now."

Sakuyamon descended to the ground in front of Catherine, who was still hold Floramon in her arms. The bio-merged mega began to glow, then returned to Rika and Renamon. The orange-haired young woman knelt down beside her. "How is she?"

"I t'ink she'll be okay," the blond girl smiled slightly.

Rika nodded. "Um…look, about earlier, I…I apologize, okay? I..I'm sorry."

Catherine stared at her with a confused look on her face.

Rika sighed. "Look, Jeri was one of my best friends, maybe even my best _human_ friend, and when she got sealed away with the D-reaper, it really affected me. Then when you guys came, I knew that we probably would never see each other again, and…and I guess I didn't want to feel the way I felt when Jeri left. But..but when I saw you out there, I realized that Floramon saved Renamon, and she can't even say, 'That's what friends are for." I'm sorry. And..if you're still willing, I'd like to still become friends."

Catherine smiled. "_Merci _and _oui,_ I would still like to know about you."

Takato walked over to where Kari was staring at the destroyed tower. "We failed," she said, "We can't fail again."

"I know."

She turned to him. "The same thing happened again. Davis somehow got control of Tk's Digi-metal." She half-smiled, "At least I know it's not only me."

"Yeah," Takato smiled slightly.

They stood in silence until Kari said, "That D-reaper, could it destroy the entire Digital World?"

"Yes, it could."

"I wonder, could that thing I dreamt about, could that be the D-reaper?"

"Maybe."

She took a deep breath. "I'm scared, Takato, for the first time in a while, I'm really, truly scared. Something's out there, with enough power to destroy _both_ worlds, and it's just waiting to wake up."

"''"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Somewhere else, in a room similar to a throne room of an ancient castle, a human figure sat on the make-shift throne, staring at a pedestal in front of him. On this stand was a board with small squares of different colors, and a variety of small wooden figurines. The figure raised his head, "_Where_ are they?"

"In a sub-plain of the Digital World," a young man responded, "I think that a sub-spatial anomaly in the…"

The other young man glared at him. He cleared his throat, "Um, I think that a portal sucked them through this world into that."

"Lovely," the first man said, his hands brushing over the small, chess-like figurines on the pedestal, "I did not foresee this. I have assembled the pieces exactly where I want them, and now some kind of…of unknown being wants to challenge _my_ authority?"

A young woman in red entered the room. The Chess-player looked at her. "What is it?"

"I was doing readings on that area that the Digidestined disappeared over, and I think that portal's still there."

"What?" the Scientist gasped.

The Woman in Red nodded. "Yes."

The Chess-player thought for a second. "Gather the others and enter that world. I want to know exactly what's going on."

"Yes sir," they nodded.

The Chess-player smiled to himself as he sat back down on the thrown. "The pieces…are almost in place," he said to himself as he watched the Woman in Red and the Scientist leave.

They were all wearing hooded trench coats.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_Preview:_

_The four Towers of the Sovereigns are under attack. The Digidestined and Tamers split up and are determined to protect each one. But when evil strikes, will they be able to reach a new level of strenght?_

_Next: "__Dark__Ocean__: Birth of Power." When evil gets strong, the forces of good must become even stronger._

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Author's note:

Wow, it's been a while since I updated, huh? Well, in case you're wondering, yeah, I'm still alive.

And since I was able to get this out before Christmas, (went right down to the wire, huh?) let me say this:

Whatever religion you practice, and whatever holiday you observe, may it be filled with happiness and joy. I wish you nothing but the best, and maybe, the world can be at peace, for a few days at least. See ya' in the new year.


	19. DARK OCEAN: Birth of Power

Hey, it's Tatum. Last time we finally made it to this guy named Wisemon, who told us that the Dark Ocean use to be the land of the sovereigns before it was corrupted by evil. They sealed the D-reaper inside of there, but had to leave. They left four towers behind, and if they were destroyed, the seal would be broken. We tried to defend the Tower of Baihumon from Dragomon and Metal Tyranomon, but during the battle, Tk's Digi-metal of Sincerity went to Veemon, and he armor digivolved to Yashamon! He and Sakuyamon were able to defeat Metal Tyranomon, but not before he destroyed the tower.

DARK OCEAN: Birth of Power

Wisemon closed the thick wooden door behind him as he entered the room. Near each wall were giant statues that towered over the Sage. He walked into the center of the room, which placed him in the center of the four statues. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Masters, I have terrible news to report: your towers are being destroyed, and the powers of the Holy Princess of Heroes has been taken. I wish to help them, but I do not know how. Please, respond to me, my lords."

The room turned dark and the eyes on the statues began to glow. "_Wisemon,"_ the dragon statue said, "_We have seen the destruction from the safety of our realm."_

"What can we do to prevent the revival of the D-reaper, Lord Azulongmon?"

_"The Holy Prince of Heroes must stop the destruction of our towers and not allow the Key Cards to enter Yuko Oikawa's hands," the_ tiger statue responded.

"The Holy Prince of Heroes is now a Princess, Lord Baihumon," Wisemon clarified, "And I'm sure she'll do everything in her power to stop Oikawa."

"_I would expect no less from a true hero," _Ebonwumon, the turtle said.

_"Do not fear for the loss of Kamiya and Takashi's power," _Zhuqioamon said, "_Motomiya was meant to have the powers of Courage and Friendship. Kamiya and Takashi will never be without powers."_

"What does that mean?" Wisemon asked.

_"Those two, along with one other, will be the chosen ones to turn back the tides of darkness."_

"One other? Who?"

_"That is not important now. Protect the other towers. Oikawa must be defeated before the Digidestined return to the Digital World. Go now."_

The eyes on the statues dimmed and the lights returned to the room.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Oikawa shouted as he threw a glass beaker at the brick wall, where it shattered instantly. "This is the second time that we've failed against the Digidestined, and that's two times too many! I am by no means a patient man, I want those Key Cards!"

"But, we were able to destroy Baihumon's tower," Dragomon protested.

"You were barely successful," Oikawa sneered, resting his hands on one of the control consoles in front of him. "Those Digidestineds almost defeated you, and they still have the Keycards!"

The three digimon in front of him were silent for a few minutes before Arukennimon nervously spoke. "Well, sir, they're sure to try and protect the other Towers, maybe we could try to separate them on their way there and attack."

Oikawa stared at the spider woman for a second before breaking into a twisted smile. "Excellent idea."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When Wisemon walked into the main tent in his village, the other Digidestined and Tamers were already seated inside. Takato turned to look at him. "Did you find anything out?"

He nodded. "The four Sovereigns said that the Holy Princess of Heroes should head out to the remaining Towers and protect them."

"Me alone?" Kari questioned.

"You and your team, I assume," Wisemon said, "The four Sovereigns seem to indicate that much of your destiny has yet to reveal itself."

"What about us?" Veemon asked, "What are we, chopped liver?"

Wisemon looked to Tk. "They also spoke of Mr. Takashi, saying that you two and one unnamed other, would have the power to turn back the darkness."

"Who?" Davis asked.

Wisemon shook his head. "Like I said, I don't know."

"All right," Takato said, "So we'll go to the other Towers and protect them."

"The sooner the better," Tk said, "We've got to get back to our ship before Myotismon wakes up."

"You think he's still asleep?" Patamon asked.

"It's only been one day since we landed here," Tatum said, "But I'm worried too." She sighed slightly, "We're just going to have to hope that Ken and the others are still all right."

"We'd just better hurry," Kari said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Key Cards. "Right now, I don't think that one person should hold these. I'm going to give one to each of you."

Henry stared at the Drimogemon card in his hand. "So, just out of curiosity, how do these work?"

Hiroshi spoke up. "By placing nine of these ten cards in a certain pattern in a placed where the borders between the dimensions are weak, and depending on the pattern, you'll open a gate."

"All right," Rika said, "Who's going with who, and who's going where?"

"I think that we should try to get to as many Towers as we can," Kari said, "Takato, Tk, Yolei and I will head towards one Tower, the rest of you will go to the other."

"That leaves one left," Henry pointed out, "What about the last tower?"

"We'll just have to hope that we'll stop them before they get that far," Kari said, "If we're ready, let's head out."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

A few hours later, Kari, Takato, Tk, Yolei and their digimon were standing on a raft as it floated down the rapid river, heading towards the Tower of Ebonwumon. Kari noticed how Yolei and Tk kept giving each other glances when the other was not looking. Since Tk rescued her from being captured by Daemon, things had escalated so quickly: defeating Dark SEED, being pulled into the Dark Ocean, meeting the Tamers, she had momentarily forgotten about her feelings towards Tk and Yolei. Now, when she had moment to think, her heartache came flooding back to her.

Kari was in love with Tk, who was Matt in a past life, while the past memories of her life as Tai were fueling her love for Yolei, who was Sora in a past life. She was in love with both of them, and was fairly certain that they felt the same way to her, but which one did she love more? Could she choose between them? Would one of them choose her?

"You look like you've got something on your mind," Takato said.

"Yeah," Salamon said, "She's worrying about who she's in love with."

"Salamon!" Kari hissed.

Takato smiled. "Might I make a suggestion?"

She shrugged. "Okay."

"Don't wait," he said, "I waited too long to tell Jeri how I really felt about her, and it was too late."

She nodded. "I understand, but…"

Guilmon suddenly gasped. He looked to the sky and his eyes turned into tiny pupils. "What's wrong?" Salamon asked, running over to him.

"Digimon are here!" Takato shouted, "Everyone, brace yourself!"

The digimon that were hovering over top of the ship was a group of Gigadramon, with Arukennimon standing on top of one of them. "Greetings!" she grinned.

"You're Arukennimon aren't you?" Yolei shouted.

"That's right," she smiled, "Now, hand over those Key Cards."

No one said anything, so she shouted again. "I repeat.."  
"We heard you the first time!" Tk said, "And we're not giving you the Key Cards!"  
Arukennimon mentioned to the Gigadramon she was riding. "Fire a warning shot."  
The metal dragon opened his left gun arm and fired a missile, which exploded in the water next to the boat. The small raft was tossed around like a rag doll, but still remained on the ship. "You missed," Yolei laughed, "And you're still not getting those Key Cards."  
Arukennimon laughed. "Then, you leave me no choice," she shouted. She turned around and addressed the rest of the Gigadramon squad,"Blow the ship up! We'll get the Key Cards from the water!"  
"Dark side Attack!" the seven or so Gigadramon fired.  
"Brace yourself!" Takato ordered.  
The ship was hit in the center, sending debris and the occupants flying in every direction. Some of the debris flew upward towards the attackers. "Pull up!" Arukennimon ordered. The Gigadramon squadron quickly moving out of the way, but when they turned their attention back to the water, the raft and its occupants were lost in the rapid river.

"Crud," the Ultimate digimon woman frowned, "Lost them!" She stared at the Gigadramons, "Well, get going! We've got to find them!"

The digimon growled and began to follow the river.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""''

Davis's group was traveling by foot to their destination, the Tower of Zhuqioamon. They needed to pass through a volcanic area. Catherine and Floramon jumped every time they heard a rumble from beneath the ground.

"Don't be so nervous," Henry smiled reassuringly, "These volcanoes haven't erupted for a long time, at least, according to Wisemon."

Catherine nodded. "But zey ztill make me nervous."

As they continued to walk, Davis was staring at his D-terminal. Tatum walked up beside him. "Something the matter?"

"Earlier today, Tk's Digi-metal went to me, yesterday, I took Kari's Digi-metal, but, I never meant to. I didn't try to take it from them, so why did I get them?"

Tatum shook her head. "I don't know, all I can say is, there's more going on here then we realize, or _are able to _realize. Kari was named the Holy Prince-er, Holy Princ_ess_ of Heroes. She has something very important that she's going to need to do, and I think that whatever's happening, is leading her up to that. So maybe she needed to get rid of the Courage armor so she could get something even stronger?"

Davis turned to look at her. "Are you sure?"

Tatum shrugged. "Maybe."

Davis smiled. "Well, I don't feel that bad then. Tk's probably going to get something stronger too, right?"

Tatum nodded, smiling as well. "Sure, why not?"

"This place is really hot," Terriermon said, using his long ears to wipe the sweat off of his forehead.

"Yeah, I kno9w," Henry said, "But we can't start complaining now, right? Terriermon?" He turned to look at his partner, but was shocked to see his ears standing straight up. "Uh oh!"

"What's wrong?" Hiroshi asked, running over.

"Digimon are here," Terriermon said.

Rika turned to her partner. "Renamon, do you sense anything?" She was given her answer when she saw Renamon's fur standing up on its ends.

"Yes, in the sky!"

They shot their heads around and saw a group of Megadramons floating in the sky, with Mummymon standing on top of one of them. He sneered. "Hello, human weaklings!"

"What do you want?" Davis demanded.

"I want your Key Cards!" he laughed, "Now, hand them over."

"You're going to have to fight us first!" Hiroshi's Penmon shouted.

Mummy chuckled. "Gladly. Megadramons, attack!"

The group of floating digimon fired the missiles at the Digidestined and Tamers. Fortunately, they were able to jump out of the way in time. Unfortunately, the missiles tore right through the ground, leaving a series of large holes in the ground.

"What just happened?" Veemon asked.

"The magma underneath the ground must have eaten away everything except the topsoil," Henry said, "That means that.."

The ground suddenly exploded with a shower of magma and rocks. Mummymon and his Megadramon squad instantly flew out of the way, but the Digidestined and Tamers below were caught in the erupting land. As lava flowed around them, they were cut off from one another. Soon, the ground began small islands, which were lifted and carried down the lavara like rocks on a stream. The group tried to stay in sight of one another, but the river of lava pulled them apart

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When Kari slowly opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that she was completely wet, and her clothes were soaked. She momentarily wondered if she pulled her sheets and blankets on during the night like she did sometimes during the summer. She realized that she was not lying on her soft bedspread, but something hard and scratchy. She sat up and glanced around. She had been lying on a ground covered with hard, black rocks. Salamon was lying next to her and there was a roaring fire in front of them.

She remembered now. She was not at home; she was in the Dark Ocean and Arukennimon destroyed their ship and sent the Digidestined and Tamers into the river. They tried to stay together, but the current was too strong. She got pulled under and started to black out. She should have drowned.

Kari gently shook her partner. "Salamon…Salamon?"

The white digimon moaned and opened her eyes. "Just give me five more minutes."

"Salamon, wake up."

The Rookie digimon fully opened her eyes. "Kari? What's wrong?"

"Where are we?"

"The Dark Ocean?" she asked.

Kari sighed. "That's not what I meant. We were in the river, who…"

The thick dark green bushes surrounding the small campsite started to shake and rattle. The two females stared at the noise, unsure of whether to run or remain still. They were relieved when Takato and Guilmon came stumbling through. "Oh, you're awake," Takato said.

Kari sighed with relief. "Are we the only ones here?"

Guilmon nodded sadly. "We tried to get the others, but you were the closest ones."

"I just hope that the others are okay and they're heading towards the Tower of Ebonwumon," Takato said. He sighed slightly. "Well, I do have some good news. Not all of our supplies got completely soaked." He walked over to a pile of towels and blankets on the ground. He handed Kari a blanket and towel. "Here."

"What for?"

"You're completely soaked," he said, "If you keep wearing those clothes, you're going to get sick." He blushed slightly. "Don't worry, I won't look."

Kari took the towels and went to hide behind the bushes. Her shoes were completely watered logged and her socks were soaked. She unbuckled her belt and pulled down her shorts. She took of her arm-length gloves and pulled off her shirt. She was surprised to see that none of the colors had run, despite being completely soaked in water. Then again, she did not know what type of clothes these were.

She frowned. Even her bra and underwear were soaked. She threw them into her pile and wrapped her blanket tightly around her body. After making sure that it was not going to fall, she walked back over to the campsite. Takato was wearing a similar towel around his waist and was hanging his clothes on a make-shift clothes line near the fire. He blushed slightly when he saw Kari, but mentioned to the clothes line. She flung her clothes over top then sat down next to Takato. Their digimon were seated closer to the flames, already asleep.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Takato cleared his throat. "Um, so, we never really got a chance to talk before, but, um, why don't you tell me something about yourself?"

She shrugged. "Like what?"

Takato lightly smiled. "Well, do you have a boyfriend?"

She hesitated. "That's…complicated."

"How do you mean?"

She sighed. "Well, I used to be a boy named Tai in my past life, and I was in love with Sora Takenouchi, who was reborn as Yolei. So the two of us have feelings for each other, even though we're both girls."

Takato nodded.

"It gets better," Kari said with a slight smile, "Tk and I also have feelings for each other, even though he used to be Matt, my rival, I guess, in my past life."

"Wow!" he said.

Kari nodded. "I know."

Takato smiled slightly. "Well, I don't think I'm much better. I waited too long to tell Jeri how I felt about her, but she was already absorbed by the D-reaper. And now I've spent the past sixteen years longing for a girl that I'll probably never see again. Now which one of us has the worst love life?"

She smiled slightly. "At least you know who you're in love with."

Takato shrugged. "I guess."

The two stared into the fire for another uncomfortable silence. "I guess you think about Jeri all the time, huh?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah. There are other girls that I'm attracted to, like Jeri's friend, Miki, and maybe a little to Rika, but I can't get Jeri out of my mind."

Kari nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I try to forget about my love life problems, there's a lot more at stake, but I just can't."

The two of them continued to stare into the fire before slowly turning towards each other. They were silent as they began to blush. They started to move closer to each other before realization dawned in their eyes and they pulled apart.

"I wonder if our clothes are dry enough to wear," Takato said, jumping up to test what was on the line.

Kari tried her best to hide herself, but without anything to cover her face with, she was left vulnerable.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Oikawa smashed his fist into one of the small glass beakers that were seated on the control panel of his laboratory. Arukennimon and Mummymon flinched as they knelt before him. "You two are complete failures! All you had to do was destroy the Digidestined and the Tamers while they were separated. And you lost them!"

They stammered for an explanation, but Oikawa threw another glass beaker into the wall. "Get up and find them now! I want those Key Cards!"

"But what about those Bio-merged Tamers?" Mummymon asked.

Oikawa frowned. He grabbed two devices that were similar to a miniature black tower on top of a metal box. He threw one to each of them. "This is a smaller version of the Control Spires, but attuned to the specific energy frequencies of the Tamers and their partners. Use them to stop our stronger enemies. I estimate you'll only be able to use that five times before the Tamer digimon develop an immunity. Don't fail me again."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Takato and Kari were quiet for the remainder of the afternoon. After their clothes finally dried, they quickly dressed and began to head towards the Temple of Ebonwumon, hoping that the other members of their small group were doing the same.

"Ebonwumon was the protective god of the ocean," Takato said, "If we just stick close to the river I'm sure we'll find it."

"What does his tower look like?" Guilmon asked.

"Probably like Baihumon's tower."

Behind them, Kari walked at a much slower pace, not wanting to even remotely look at Takato in the face. _"Jeeze Kari, you sure got a pretty interesting love life, don't you? First you fall in love with your best friend Yolei, who just happens to be a girl like you! Then you fall in love with Tk, who use to be Mat. You created a love triangle between the three of you, and now you start getting feelings for Takato! He's at least ten years older then you, plus he's from another world and is totally obsessed with his dead girlfriend! You've got to get over this, and fast!"_

Takato glanced over his shoulder at Kari and smiled slightly. Kari returned the smile without even thinking. She shook her head. "_No. I can't. Maybe if we talk about this now, it'll be okay."_ She took a deep breath. "Hey, Takato?"

Guilmon suddenly shot his head to the sky. "Digimon are here!" he growled.

"Where?" Salamon shouted.

"The trees!" Guilmon growled, "Up there!"

The foursome stared through the tree branches until they saw Arukennimon standing on one of the tree branches. She grinned and leapt down onto the ground. "Hello again," she said.

"What do you want?" Guilmon hissed.

"Your Key Cards," she grinned, "Hand 'em over."

"Forget it," Kari said, reaching for her digivice, "Are you ready Salamon?"

"Wait," Takato said, reaching for his own D-Arc, "Guilmon and I will Bio-merge and finish this quickly."

Arukennimon pointed the miniature Control Spire at Guilmon and fired a beam of black light that struck the red dinosaur in the chest and a thin film of opaque covered his body. His body instantly went rigid and he fell onto his side. "Guilmon!" Takato shouted.

The evil woman grinned as she faced Kari and Salamon. "Don't worry, it'll wear off in a couple of hours. Now, without the stronger digimon, you'll easily fall before me."

Kari turned to the others. "Takato?"

The young man was kneeling before his frozen partner. "He's as stiff as a board! He'll never be able to digivolve."

The brown-haired girl sighed. "All right, Salamon, it's up to us."

The In-trainning digimon nodded and leapt into the air. She quickly digivolved to Gatomon and then Angewomon. Arukennimon woman grinned even more and her body began to spasm and twist until her human body was replaced by a gruesome spider form. "Come and get me!"

"Angewomon, don't let her win," Kari said, "That digimon was probably mean the day she was hatched."

She smirked. "I wasn't 'hatched,' you know."

"What do you mean?" Takato asked.

"I was once human," she said, "A 'nerd,' you might say, studying computer programming in order to 'decode' DNA. I was pushed around, made fun of, basically ignored. Then Oikawa found me, enticed me with his promises of power. He transformed me into this, a being of absolute power! I became the intelligence officer for Dark SEED until we were…displaced here. Now, we only require the Key Cards and we'll take back the Digital World and Earth!"

"I will never let that happen," Angewomon said. The two digimon woman shot towards one another and began to engage in a fierce fist war. As they tried to overpower each other in the early phase of the battle, another figure sat in the branches of the trees. She was wearing a red hooded raincoat that was wrapped tightly around her. The Woman in Red displayed a serious expression as she watched the battle below.

Arukennimon fired a stream of webbing from her hand where it wrapped around Angewomon's leg. She began to spin the angel woman in a circle around her head. Kari and Takato had to duck to avoid being hit in the head.

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, "Are you all right?"

"I've been better," she grunted. She unwrapped her scarf from her right arm and managed to swing it around a tree. She held on tightly and squeezed her eyes tightly. Arukennimon continued to spin Angewomon, but since the angel woman was gripping tightly to the tree trunk, the recoil sent the spider woman off balance. Angewomon used this opportunity to kick her leg with all of her might and sent Arukennimon smashing into the trees.

The spider woman scurried back into the battlefield, but Angewomon had floated into the air to give her the advantage. The grotesque spider fired another stream of webbing towards the floating angel. "Spider Thread!"

Angewomon quickly put her hands together and pulled them apart, sending a glowing wave towards the ground. "Heaven's Charm!"

The two attacks collided into each other, creating an explosion of light and sound. Arukennimon jumped into the sky in an attempt to bring Angewomon to the ground, but the angel used her scarf as a whip and sent the spider crashing back to the ground. The angel woman prepared to execute her strongest attack, the Celestial Arrow, but she lost sight of the spider woman. She started searching the ground. "Where is she?"

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, "Behind you!"

She spun around seconds before Arukennimon tackled her to the ground. She covered Angewomon with a layer of thick webbing. She struggled to move but she was trapped. The spider woman began to pound Angewomon's face repeatedly.

The Woman in Red nodded slightly from the safety of her tree branch. "This Angewomon appears to be powerful, but she gains her natural advantage from being in the air. On the ground, she loses her strength. Can she survive?"

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, "Angewomon!"

Over to the side, Takato was shaking Guilmon's body. "Come on, come on, Guilmon, Angewomon needs your help. Come on."

After Arukennimon was finished pounding Angewomon, she grabbed the end of the webbing and started to spin Angewomon around, this time smashing her through the thick trees trunks.

"Not bad, huh, Goldilocks!" Arueknnimon laughed, "Maybe if I looked like you when I was human, I wouldn't have joined with Oikawa. Then again I never wanted to be a stuck-up airhead like you."

Kari stared with horror. "I've got to try something." She pulled around her backpack and pulled out her Holy Lances. She pointed one end at the battlefield. "Angewomon!" she shouted, waiting for the familiar feel of energy that connected her with her partner, but she felt nothing.

"It's not working!" she gasped. She looked around at the blackness blanketing the Dark Ocean. "It's gotta be this place! I can't use my Holy Weapon!"

The Woman in Red stared with interested at the battle. "She can't use her weapon here? Interesting. Will Hikari Kamiya be able to overcome this?"

Kari watched with wide eyes as the trapped Angewomon was thrown through tree trunks and smashed with Arukennimon's multiple legs. She glanced at her digivice. "There's only one thing that can save us now, I just hope I'll be strong enough for it to work."

She took a deep breath and knelt down, gripping her digivice tightly in her hands. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "Please, Gods of the Digital World, give me the strength I need. Please, give me the strength!"

Her digivice exploded in a blast of bright light that covered the battlefield, but focused on the trapped Angewomon. "What the-?" Arukennimon gasped.

**Kari's Digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to an orange hue. It fired a beam of light from its screen up to her Crest of Courage. The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Angewomon.**

**"Angewomon digivolve to…"**

** Angewomon shot her head back as her helmet shot into the sky. It exploded with light and gently showered Angewomon. Her legs merged together but grew and whipped around like a tail. Her arms shrunk into her torso as her entire body became serpentine. Her hair wrapped around her head as two horns grew. The new digimon growled deeply.**

** "Holydramon!"**

****

Arukennimon stared in horror as the massive dragon hovered over her. "A mega!" she shrieked.

"All right!" Kari cheered, "Go, Holydramon!"

The Woman in Red was equally as surprised. "Amazing. Kamiya was able to make her digimon evolve to the Final Level through the force of her will alone. Maybe she has more power then we originally thought."

Down on the ground, Arukennimon pushed her fear aside as she stared at up at the giant mega. "You don't scare me! Spider Thread!" Her familiar sea of webbing wrapped tightly around the mega's body. Arukennimon laughed wickedly, but Holydramon simply flexed her muscles and the thin strands snapped and tore into wisps of nothingness. The dragon smashed her tail into Arukennimon, sending her flying backwards through a tree trunk.

"How does it feel?" Holydramon asked.

The spider woman grunted a reply as she climbed back onto her eight feet. She jumped into the air and shouted, "Predation Spider!" A web exploded from her underside and blanketed the battlefield, trapping Holydramon in the adhesiveness of the webstrings. Kari was left trapped outside the web.

The spider woman scurried around the web until she reached the trapped Holydramon. "Ha ha!" she laughed, "Now after I use my spider acid to dissolve your skin, I'll feast on your insides!"

"That's disgusting!" Kari shouted.

"To each her own!" Arukennimon laughed. She opened her mouth to spit her acid at the dragon, when Kari's partner suddenly exploded with a bright light, causing everyone to shield their eyes. When they were able to look again, the web was gone, and Holydramon was free, floating in the sky above Arukennimon. "That was my Apocalypse attack," she explained.

The spider woman began to realize that she was beaten. Holydramon had stopped her best attack, there was nothing that she could do. She began to back up slowly, but the dragon raised her head to the sky, then threw it back down, creating a stream of fire that enveloped the spider woman. She screamed in pain as her body was covered in flames and instantly deleted.

Holydramon glowed brightly, then regressed to her In-training form. Kari grinned as she caught her partner in her arms. "Nyaromon, you did it!"

"No, you did it, Kari," she smiled. "I don't think I would have been able to digivolve if it wasn't for you. You gave me the energy I needed." She started to nuzzle her partner, "You see, who cares about the Digi-metal of Courage when you've got power to spare!"

Kari lightly rubbed the top of Nyaromon's head. She saw Takato smiling at her and he bowed. "That was great," he said, "You really know what you're doing, huh?"

She shrugged, but mentioned to Guilmon. "How is he?"

"I think he'll be okay," he said, "Aruknnimon said that it would wear off in a few hours, so…" He shrugged, "I think we're either going to have to wait or we'll carry him." He lightly rubbed his chin, "Maybe…" He walked over and tried to lift the rigid dinosaur, but felt his back almost crack. He stumbled backwards, "I don't think I'll try that again."

"Let me help you," Kari said, placing Nyaromon down. She ran over and helped Takato lift the rigid Guilmon. They started walking with Nyaromon bouncing alongside. Kari suddenly yelled for Takato to stop. She started looking around at the dark forest around her.

"What's wrong?" Takato asked.

"Nothing," she said, "I just thought I heard someone. Come on."

They continued walking, unknown to any of them that the Woman in Red was still watching.

_Next: Tk and Yolei are searching for the __Tower__ of __Ebonwumon__ when Dragomon attacks. Will they be able to defeat him, or will Tatum and Henry arrive in time to save the day?_

_Next: Dark Ocean: Return to Darkness. Will you give up everything to save the ones you love?_

Author's notes: Another chapter done, much quicker then the last one. Hopefully I'll get back on schedule soon.

Just some minor things: since has a new export feature, it's much easier to fix mistakes in past chapters. Case in point, Phantomon's prayer in "The Return of Kari," now has each of the Demon Lords being named. Please note the difference between "Demon," and "Daemon." I know that they're the same digimon, but for the purposes of _this_ fic, "Demon," will be the furry, bat-like creature of the Demon lords, while "Daemon,' is the cloak wearing one.

And I'm slightly disappointed that no one has noticed the trench coat wearing people. They've been seen before in this story.

'Till next time.


	20. DARK OCEAN: Return to Darkness

Kari here. We were traveling to the towers of Ebonwumon and Zhuqioamon when we were separated. Takato and I ended up together. We began to talk, and I think I might be starting to get a crush on _him!_ Oh boy! Arukennimon attacked us, and it was up to Salamon and me to stop her. Salamon was able to evolve all the way to her mega form, Holydramon, and blasted the evil spider away! I just hope the others are still safe.

DARK OCEAN: Return to Darkness

Oikawa frowned as he stared at the brick wall of his laboratory. Behind him, Mummymon, and Dragomon stood nervously. "Did you hear me, Boss?" Mummymon asked, "Arukennimon's dead."

"Yes, I heard you," Oikawa answered, slowly turning to face them, "Defeated by Kamiya, correct?"

"That's right, m'lord," Dragomon said.

"Personally, I think we can do without her," Mummymon scoffed, "I'm glad that I don't have to listen to her whining anymore."

"That may be so," Oikwa said, staring at him and speaking slowly, "but she was supposed to destroy Kamiya, and now that insufferable little brat has the ability to make her digimon digivolve to the final level. The others must be stopped before they are able to do the same, as well as before they get to the other two towers."

"I may have an idea," Dragomon said, "Remember Takashi's past? He was once the Digimon Emperor. I bet if we could harness that power…"

"I like we're this is going," Oikawa grinned, "Do it." He reached for a miniature Control Spire on the table, but Dragomon shook his head.

"I won't need that."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei wringed her long hair, squeezing as tight as she could before the last drops of water fell to the black dirt. "I don't think I'm gonna need to take a bath for a long time."

"I certainly agree," Hakwmon said, shaking his feathers as best he could, "I'm afraid I might start to molt soon."

"Molt?" Patamon asked, "That smells, right?"

"Kinda," Tk said, dropping some logs into a fire, "But come on over, Hawkmon, maybe we can get you dried off."

The bird flew over and landed next to the flames. Patamon joined him, and soon the two digimon were fast asleep. Tk sighed. "They must be tired."

"And you aren't" the purple haired girl asked.

"The truth?" Tk asked, "I've been tired for a long time now."

She nodded and started to blush slightly. "Hey Tk, do you…um…do you remember when you fought me when I was under the control of the Crest of Hate?"

"Uh, yeah?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at her.

"I…um…jeeze, this is even harder then I thought. Um, I um, just wanted to…to thank you."

"Thank me?" he asked, "Why?"

"Because, if it wasn't for you, I probably would have been that nasty bitchy person forever. You saved me, thank you."

He shrugged slightly. "Well, I know what it's like being forced to fight on the side of evil."

She nodded and continued to stare into the fire. "Um, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"I…um…jeeze, this is really hard, um, what do you think of me? I mean, really."

He looked at her strangely. "What?" he gasped.

"No, really," she said, "I really want to know. Please?"

He stared at her for a few more minuets before realizing that she was completely serious. She wanted to know what he really thought of her, but why? He accessed some of the memories of his previous life as Matt to see if he could find a reason for this. He remembered some girls asking him that, but these were the same girls that, rumors said, had a crush on him. Did this mean Yolei had a crush on him too?

He stared at her face, trying to think of what to say. He never really realized how cute she actually looked. He knew that some people did not particularly find glasses attractive, but the way Yolei's glasses sat on her perfect nose seemed to make her all the more beautiful. Her hair flowed around her face and shoulders perfectly. He was almost in a trance as he finally answered.

"I think that…you have to be…one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen."

The purple-haired girl started to blush fiercely. She turned away from his gaze. "I…I…I k…kinda meant a…about my personality…"

"Oh..." he said, "Um…" He paused for another moment, trying to think of the perfect way to say it. "You're a very loyal, energetic, smart person, who holds onto her friends with all her might and keeps them close to her."

She did not know what to do now. She did not think that he would have answered so truthfully and sincerely. She finally managed to turn her face him. He was staring at her, she had to say something.

"Um, Tk, I guess I should say…"

The blond boy glanced at her, waiting for her to continue speaking. He looked at her with a strange expression on his face, which quickly changed when he noticed a large shadow suddenly appeared on the ground. Tk grabbed the sleeping Hawkmon and Patamon and tackled Yolei outside of the perimeter of the their campsite seconds before a massive figure slammed into the ground.

"What is happening here?" Hawkmon asked.

"Dragomon!" Patamon gasped.

"What are you doing here?" Tk demanded.

Dragomon chuckled. "I want your Key Cards! And believe me, I will have them. Prepare for battle!"

Tk grabbed his digivice. "Patamon!"

Yolei pointed her digivice at her partner as well. "Hawkmon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon! Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon! Aquillamon digivolve to Silphymon!"

Hidden in the trees above them, a young man dressed in an orange hooded trench coat. "Hmm, my hypothesis was correct, even in this Dark Ocean, their crests are powerful enough to initiated digivolution to the Ultimate level." This Scientist, rub his chin, "I will have to gather more information."

Dragomon grinned in his unusual way. "I'll start things off if you don't mind. Forbidden Trident!" Each one of the three points on his trident fired a bolt of black lightning that struck the two digimon and sent them flying backwards.

Silphymon was back on his feet before Magna Angemon, and shot towards Dragomon. The evil digimon held up his trident, ready to block his rocket-like attack, but instead, Magna Angemon shot over his head. Being much more agile, he was able to spin around and quickly engage in an impressive twisting and twirling of his hands, forming a large ball of energy in his palms. "Static Force!"

He fired the ball of energy into Dragomon's back, which sent him reeling over in pain. He managed to straighten himself, but Magna Angemon appeared and attacked his face with a powerful kick. Dragomon staggered backwards, but quickly regained himself. "That was just beginner's luck," he sneered, "You'll soon realize just how powerful I am!"

With surprising speed, he swung his Trident around and slammed into Magna Angemon's head, but before he could crash into the ground, Dragomon grabbed a hold of him with his other hand.

"Hold on!" Silphymon cried, using his entire body to tackle into Dragmon's side. He released his hold on Magna Angemon's head, but brought his Trident around to smack into the top of Silphymon.

"Don't give up!" Yolei cheered, "Keep at it!"

Silphymon jumped back into the sky and the small belt around his waist began to spin. His body was soon covered by a white light and he then dove at Dragomon with all of his might. "Astral Laser!"

Dragomon grinned and pointed his Trident at the glowing Silphymon. "Forbidden Trident!"

Silphymon could not move in time and his body was struck by all three blasts of black lightning. Magna Angemon leapt to his aid, but Dragomon pointed his other palm at him and began to fire a series of water rings. "Thousand Waves!"

Each circular wave struck him hard and fast. He attempted to leap out of the way, but the waves were moving with such force and frequency, he was trapped. Eventually, the waves stopped, but not before they had done their damage. Magna Angemon fell to the ground.

"No!" Tk shouted, "Magna Angemon, get up!"

Dragomon grinned as he stared at Silphymon, then at Magna Angemon. "So, it appears that I've beaten you. Hand over your…"

"I…have not been defeated yet," Magna Angemon said, slowly climbing to his feet. Dragomon stared at him with a mixture of amusement and shock.

"You can barely stand!" he gasped, "How can you think that you will be able to defeat me?"

"Because," he said, "I will not abandon Tk when he needs me. I will not allow your cruel master to release the D-reaper. I will not allow your evil to infect the rest of the Digital World, like you have done here."

Above them, hidden in the trees, the Scientist watched without any expression. "I thought that they would not yield so easily, but if Magna Angemon knows of a secret power, I would like to see it."

Tk held tightly onto his digivice. "Don't worry, Magna Angemon, I know you can beat him! I believe in your strength, in your determination! You can win, I know you can!"

Suddenly, his digivice exploded with bright light. He stared at the screen in awe. "It's, activated?"

"Tk," Magna Angemon gasped, "Your belief in me is filling me with power! I am able to digivolve!"

**Tk's digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a bluish hue. It fired a beam of light from its screen up to his Crest of Friendship. The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent. The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Manga Angemon.**

**"Manga Angemon digivolve to…"**

** Manga Angemon clenched together into the fetal position, then shot apart, his first layer of skin blasting off into particles and circling around his glowing body. The muscles on his upper body shot out, growing to incredible size, as his legs shot together and merged into a long tail. His nose grew out into a large snout, as his wings fixed themselves into ninety-degree angles on his back. The circling particles of skin glowed a bright gold color, then shot back onto his body. His long tail curled up over his head, then snapped down to the ground.******

** "Goldramon!"**

"Quite interesting," the Scientist said, "His force of will alone caused his digimon partner to digivolve."

Below, Dragomon was staring with another emotion. "I see," he grinned, "I see that you are even stronger then I first realized. You will do well."

"What are you talking about?" the massive dragon sneered, "Of course I'm going to do well slamming your head in!"

He shot forward and started to execute a flurrying array of punches, that, surprisingly, Dragomon was able to block almost successfully at every jab. "As you can see," the squid man sneered, "I am not totally powerless, even against a mega." He smacked the dragon on the tip of his long snout with his Trident. Goldramon roared with anger.

"Take this!" he shouted. He opened his mouth and bright bronze flames erupted from his mouth. "Gold Flame!"

"Ahh!" Dragomon gasped, quickly throwing up his Trident in an attempt to block the flame. The force of the eruption sent him skidding backwards until he slammed into the ground inches in front of Yolei, who was clutching the hurt Hawkmon. The evil squid man jumped onto his feet and wrapped his slimy tentacles around the purple-haired girl and her injured partner.

"Goldramon, stop!" Tk ordered. The massive dragon quickly pulled back his flame attack. The blond-haired boy glared at Dragomon.

"One move and they're both dead, got it?" he asked.

"You filthy, sneaky…"

Dragomon brought Yolei closer to his mouth. "Remember.."

Tk sighed. "All right, what do you want?"

"You're Key Cards, both of yours."

"Fine."

"And that's not all," Dragomon grinned, "Takashi, I want _you!"_

"What?" he gasped.

"You heard me," he said, glaring at him, "Surrender yourself, and the girl will live."

"Don't do it!" Yolei shouted, "I'm not worth it!"

Tk hesitated before sighing deeply. "Yes you are. Give him the Key Card you have."

The purple-haired girl stared at them, then slowly glanced up to the giant squid-man. "But…"

"Do it."

She reached into the pocket of her outfit and held it up. One of Dragomon's tentacle's shot around and grabbed a hold of the card. He turned to look at the blond haired boy. "Now, are you ready?"

Tk glanced over at Goldramon, who instantly understood. He hovered over Tk before regressing to Tokomon and dropping into Tk's arms. "I'm ready."

Dragomon dropped Hawkmon and Yolei. He quickly shot the tentacles of his one hand across the battlefield and wrapped them around Tk and Patamon. He pointed his trident towards his feet and a platform of water appeared beneath his feet. This water platform lifted Dragomon and his passengers into the air, sending them across the sky.

"No!" Yolei shouted, "No, No!" She fell onto her knees as Dragomon and Tk began to disappear in the sky. "No, don't leave me alone again! Matt, please, don't leave me along again!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari suddenly stopped through her journey through the forests. "What's wrong?" Nyaromon asked.

The brown haired girl shook her head. "I thought that I heard…It was nothing."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Oikawa nodded in delight. "Well done, Dragomon, very well done."

"Thank you, m'lord," Dragomon nodded, "I live to serve you."

The evil human turned to stare at the blond boy, who was currently lying on a metal table, held in place firmly with large metal braces. "What exactly are you planning to do with me?" Tk demanded.

Oikawa chuckled. "I could easily give you a long explanation, but I'll spare you. I'm simply going to force you to return to being the Digimon Emperor."

"What?" Tk gasped, "No, I won't let you."

"I don't think you really have a choice," he chuckled, "You see, I believe that the Digimon Emperor is just another one of your personalities. If I can force that personality out of you…"

"And how are you going to do that?" he snapped.

"That machine above you."

Tk glanced upward and saw what appeared to be the inside of an upside down silver bowl, attached to a grouping of wires which were connected to a large machine on the side. "And what the heck is that?"

"A powerful mental device," he explained, "It will free that repressed side of your personality."

"It'll never work," Tk snapped.

Oikawa started chuckling. "We shall see." He reached up and grabbed a hold of the metal helmet and fastened it securely to Tk's head, despite his protests. Oikawa mentioned to Dragomon, who used his tentacle to press a button on the machine connected to the helmet. Instantly, a strong current flowed through the circuitry. Tk had seconds before his body started to spasm in extreme pain.

"Let it out," Oikawa said, "I know you want to. Just do it."

"No!" Tk shouted, "I…will…not…let…you…."

Oikawa turned to Dragomon, "Increase the voltage."

Tk's body started to shake even more. "No. I…refuse…I..refuse…" He gritted his teeth, he could feel his heart start to rip apart. "I…can't take this anymore!" He tried to fight it, but the pain was too great.

"K..Kari…Yolei," he muttered, "I..I'm sorry." He screamed in intense pain before Oikawa nodded to Dragomon, who turned the machine off.

The room was silent for the next few moments. Oikawa stared at Tk. "Are you still alive?"

Tk slowly raised his head and grinned a sinister smile. Oikawa nodded approvingly. "Welcome back, Digimon Emperor."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

On Earth, Miss Takashi, was sitting in her apartment, sitting on her son's bed. She glanced around at her son's room. "Tk, where are you? I just hope that you're safe."

She suddenly felt a strange sensation. She had to clutch her chest and breathed heavily for a few seconds before calming herself down.

"That…was…really weird," she gasped, "I thought I felt Tk..no…Matt?" She gently placed her hand on her forehead, "No, it was both of them, together? Oh Tk, I hope where ever you are, you come home soon."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

On a section of the Dark Ocean, closer to the black water itself, there traveled a small group of beings: one Digidestined, one Tamer and their digimon partners. They were part of a mission to find the Tower of Zhuqioamon, but the group was split apart in a volcanic eruption. There was a slight silence as they traveled, until the human in the rear said. "Anything yet?"

"Maybe," Henry said, "I can see some kind of building over the tree tops, it could be the Tower of Zhuqioamon.."

"I hope so," Betamon answered, "This walking is making me tired." He turned to his partner, "Can you carry me?"

"No way," Tatum grinned slightly.

"What are you complaining for?" Terriermon asked, "You don't hear me complaining."

"You're riding on my shoulders," Henry said with a smile.

The group descended into silence and continued to travel through the forest towards the tower. They should have been able to talk to one another, but each was not ready yet to truly open up to one another.

Eventually, they emerged from the forest and arrived at the shore line of the black water; there was a large tower rising into the air resting on a small island connected to the mainland by a rickety, wooden bridge. "That's a Sovereign Tower," Henry said, "I recognize the markings, but I don't think it's Zhuqioamon's."

"Maybe it's Ebonwumon's?" Tatum suggested, "I mean, it is sitting in an island of water?"

"But how did we get down here, huh?" Terriermon asked.

"Who cares?" Tatum asked, "We're here now. Kari's supposed to be coming here. Let's hang out inside, and wait for her."

"I guess that's a good idea," Henry replied, "Just in case Oikawa gets here first, but I still wonder if Takato's okay."

On an small island farther down the Dark Ocean, hidden behind tall, sharp rocks, but still close enough to see the Tower of Ebonwumon, a girl dressed in a black dress and hooded trench coat watched the group as they approached the bridge. She turned slightly as the Scientist dropped down from the sky and landed next to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Watching my query, as per our orders," he replied.

"But what are you doing here?" she asked, "It was my job to watch her. You were supposed to be watching Takashi, remember? But I guess if you wanted to compare notes…"

"Forget it," the Scientist replied, "You just want my notes for yourself, well, forget it! I'm not giving you my superb observations."

The Girl in Black growled. "You never answered my question."

The Scientist sighed. "If you absolutely need to know, it's because Takashi's here too."

Henry and Tatum quickly ran across the wooden bridge to reach the small island. The Tower of Ebonwumon was very similar to Baihumon's Tower: a tall obelisk reaching towards the black clouds of the Dark Ocean, with only one door directly in front. Tatum was about to run inside, but Terriermon called to her. "Wait!"

Tatum did not hear and continued to walk into the Tower.

"What's wrong?" Henry asked.

"I sense a digimon inside, an evil and powerful one."

Henry did not answer his partner, but ran after Tatum. When they stepped through the door, they arrived in an circular area encompassing the base of the tower. Near the back was a single throne, where a mysterious human figure was seated. Tatum approached cautiously. "Tk?"

The teenage boy on the throne remained silent, but moved his face closer so that light could shine across it. Tatum instantly recognized the face, but the expressionless gaze in his eyes sent a chill down her spine. Henry and Terriermon silently stepped behind them.

"Well, well, well, Miss Patricia Tatum," Tk said, a sinister tone dripping from his words, "I was expecting Kamiya, but I guess you'll do."

The braided-haired girl stepped backwards. "Tk?"

The blond teenaged boy smiled a wicked grin. "Not quite. Oh, I am the person you remember, but not in the same way. "

"W..What do you mean?"

Tk's body was still covered in the shadows, but Tatum could just barely make out his hands reaching up to his face. His hands covered his eyes for a moment, before removing them to reveal a familiar mask covering his eyes. Tatum's blood instantly turned to ice. "T…Tk?"

He frowned. "Do not call me that! My name is, The Digimon Emperor!"

"No," Tatum gasped, "It can't be!"

"Tatum, what's going on?" Henry demanded.

"It's a long story," Tatum said. She hardened her will and stared Tk straight in the face. "What do you want?"

"The Key Cards," Patamon said, hovering into view.

"Working for Oikawa now, huh?" she snapped.

"That's correct," Tk nodded, "Why the attitude, Tatum, or should I say, Alice?"

"Don't…" Tatum started, but trailed off.

"What's that?" he asked, "Because you can't stand to see the Digimon Emperor, or because hearing that name reminds you of your past life, when you knew me, when Alice McCoy and Yamato Ishida…were in love?"

"We were 11 years old!" she protested, "How could we even know what love was?"

"Yeah, keep thinking that, and maybe you'll believe it," she thought, "My head knows it's true, but my heart is harder to convince."

"Ah, but Tai and Sora were in love," Tk protested.

"That's because they are…" she caught herself, "were meant to be."

"Don't pretend like you really care about that," he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Face it," Tk sighed, "You were always jealous of Kari, weren't you?"

She gasped. "J..jealous?"

"That's right,"he answered, "Jealous because in your past life, as Alice McCoy, you were in love with Yamato Ishida, and Yamato Ishida, reborn as Tk Takashi, has feelings for Kari."

"Tatum?" Betamon asked.

The braided-haired girl gasped for her voice, but finally gave up. "All right, maybe part of me was jealous, but…I'm not anymore."

"You're lying," Tk snapped.

Tatum sighed deeply. She reached for her digivice. "What are you doing?" Henry asked.

"When Tk was the Digimon Emperor the last time, Kari was able to save him by defeating him. Maybe I can do the same." She looked over her shoulder at him, "This is kind of a matter of honor, please, let me deal with it."

"No way!"

"Henry, please?" she asked. Henry did not want to, but reluctantly agreed.

Tatum pointed her digivice at her partner. "Do it!"

Her partner hopped out of the Tower and his body began to glow. "Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon! Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachimon!"

The massive dinosaur bent his head down so he could stare into the doorway. "Come on, Patamon! I'm calling you to a challenge! Let's go!"

Tk and Patamon glanced at each other and laughed. "What's so funny?" Brachimon demanded.

"Only this," Patamon said. He shot through the opening and floated into the sky. "Patamon digivolve to Angemon! Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon! Magna Angemon digivolve to Goldramon!"

"His Mega form!" Terriermon gasped.

"That's one of the dragons!" Henry shouted, "The dragons in that church we were staying in! The ones from the legend."

"Are you sure?" his partner asked.

Brachimon gasped upward at the massive Goldramon. "How can you even evolve into a holy digimon with the evil that's coming from your partner?"

The mega responded by slamming his massive fist into Brachimon head. The dinosaur stumbled backwards on his four feet, stopping before he fell into the black water. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Brachio Bubbles!" A geyser of large, glowing bubbles exploded from his open mouth, and began to impact the side of Goldramon's chest. If the mega was injured, he did not show it.

Brachimon pulled his long neck back. He twisted around so that his face was directly beside Tatum's. "I'm not going to be able to defeat a mega as powerful as him. I need to evolve again."

The braided-haired girl grasped her digivice and Crest of Reliability. She was not sure if she would be able to give Brachimon the power he needed, but she thought about Tk, about the things he said to her: the way he made her remember about the feelings Alice felt for Matt, and the way her repressed jealously towards Kari. She would stop him from making her feel that way. She closed her fists tightly around her digivice and crest as she felt the power within her be released.

Tatum's digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a black hue. It fired a beam of light from its screen up to her Crest of Reliability. The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent. The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Brachimon.

"Brachimon digivolve to…"

Brachimon's long neck was pulled into his chest as his tail grew even longer. His two front legs moved to the side of his torso, growing longer into two muscular arms, his two hind legs twisted around and merged with the top of his tail. His body became covered in flames before resending to reveal red armor now covered his body. Two flaming wings appeared on his back, flapping fiercely as he roared.

"Megidramon!"

Henry and Terriermon both shouted out in surprise. "Megidramon?"

Tatum spun around. "What's the matter?"

Henry stared with wide eyes. "Tatum, you have to stop right now. Megidramon's a very difficult digimon to control. He's…he's…he's standing right beside you, completely calm?"

The braided-haired girl glanced up at her partner, then back at Henry. "What are you talking about?"

Henry shook his head. "I..um…"

"Let me deal with it!" Tatum shouted. She spun back around and face Tk, who was standing beside Goldramon.

"So, you have a mega dragon now too," Tk smiled, "Well, I wonder whose is stronger?"

"Mine is!" Tatum shouted, "Megidramon, attack!"

The large red dragon snarled and leapt forward. Goldramon did the same and the two mega dragons were soon exchanging blows to their long snouts. Megidramon pounded the side of Goldramon's face, but the bronze dragon jumped into the air, placed both of his fists together and cracked them on top of Megidramon's nose. The red dragon was slightly disoriented, but managed to throw his hands up seconds before Goldramon brought his fists down. He was able to stop his opponent before he was able to slam his fists into his body. Unfortunately, that left Megidramon with his back pressed against the ground, using his hands alone to hold back Goldramon's hands, who was pressing down as hard as he could. Tk watched with amusement, but Tatum's expression truly scared Henry and Terriermon.

"Jeeze, she's startin' ta look like Takato did," Terriermon commented.

"I know," Henry whispered, "If this gets too out of hand, we might need to step in."

Megidramon was still struggling against Goldramon, trying desperately to keep the bronze dragon from getting his hands lose and using the red dragon's face as a punching bag. Unfortunately, the bronze dragon had gravity and leverage to augment his strength. The red dragon would not last much longer unless he could free himself. He gently moved his tail around Goldramon's back before quickly smashing it down on the back of the bronze dragon's head. Tk's partner released his grip, and Megidramon head-butted him and jumped to safety.

"That's it, Megidramon!" Tatum shouted, "Don't let him beat you! Keep attacking! Finish him!"

Henry and Terriermon stared with horror. The normally calm, compassionate, almost, sage-like girl was now screaming and yelling. She was letting her anger take control, just like Takato had when he force Wargrowlmon to digivolve to Megidramon.

While Goldramon was recovering from Megidramon's attack, the red dragon tackled the bronze mega, throwing both of them into the black water. Seconds dragged into minuets as Tk and Tatum watched the water. Suddenly, both humans could distinctly hear their partners scream out: "Gold Flame!" and "Megido Flame!" Instantly, the water exploded in a mixture of red and gold fire and light. Both dragons emerged and hovered in the sky.

"Don't let him win, Megidramon!" Tatum shouted, "Finish him off! Now!"

Megidramon and Goldramon were about to resume their battle, when a massive metallic figure dropped between them.

"Megagargomon?" Tk gasped.

"What are you doing?" Tatum demanded.

The large bio-merged digimon turned his attention at the braided-haired girl. "This has gone on long enough. I don't know how it happened, but Tk is obviously not acting under his own mind, and you seem more interested in destroying him instead of helping him."

"But…!" Tatum protested, but was cut off.

"Give him your Key Card," Megagargomon said, "We need to stop this now before it gets worse. I don't want to hurt him, and you shouldn't either."

Tatum was reluctantly, but reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the Key Card that Kari gave him. Megagargomon had his Key Card already in his hand and threw it towards Tk. The Digimon Emperor caught it, and calmly walked over to grab the one from Tatum's hand. She did not even speak when he took it. His partner dropped down and lifted Tk onto his shoulders.

"All right Goldramon," Tk said, "Now, complete the second part of our mission! Destroy that tower!"

The gold dragon opened his mouth and fired a stream of bronze fire into the small doorway on the bottom of the Tower. The bricks and mortar around the base blew out and the entire Tower collapse to the ground.

"The Tower of Ebonwumon has fallen!" Tk shouted, "Only two more Towers remain!" He laughed as he and Goldramon flew off into the sky.

Megidramon and Megagargomon both landed near Tatum before glowing brightly, and returning to their previous forms. The braided-haired girl glared at Henry. "Why did you do that!"

"You were not acting like yourself," he replied, "Out of anger, Tk forced Guilmon to evolve to Megidramon, and he almost destroyed the Digital World from our dimension. The same thing was happening to you."

"So?" Tatum snapped, lightly petting Betamon's back.

"Isn't Tk your friend?" Henry gasped, "Don't you want to help him?"

"Yes! You should have trusted me that I had everything under control!"

"I don't know you well enough to trust you. And from what I saw, you don't know how to handle it."

Tatum struggled to think of a response, but could not. She simple reached down and lifted her tired Betamon in her arms. "Fine. Then I guess you can't even trust me to be with you, huh?" She walked past Henry, "I'll just find the others on my own."

"Wait!" Terriermon called, trying to run after her, "Wait!"

Henry watched Tatum leave with guilt building in his heart. He did not want her to feel rejected, but he knew that to control a digimon like Megidramon, one that could bring out the fiercest anger in his partner, Tatum would need to hear the honest truth, no matter how hurtful it might sound.

Henry sighed. "Yeah," he said to himself, "But it's not going to make you feel any better."

On the small island, the Girl in Black and the Scientist turned towards one another. "Well, quite interesting, isn't is?" the Girl asked, "Tell me, what do you think?"

"Do your own work!" the Scientist shouted, "You gluttonous pig! Take everything for yourself, huh?"

"Your arrogant jerk!" she shouted, "I bet the others would share."

He just responded by jumping back into the sky. The Girl in Black soon followed.

Next: He has long stood as one of the most powerful and noble heroes in the Digital World. He helped save countless lives and defeat numerous evil. Now, his evil mirror image is freed, Black Wargreymon! Who will face this evil?

Next: "Dark Ocean: Forgotten Memories." What does our mind force us to forget?

Author's note: I hope you guys are enjoying the story. Please don't forget to review. I was very depressed when I only received one review for the last chapter. Please, it would help me to feel that my work is validated.


	21. DARK OCEAN: Forgotten Memories

Tatum here. Last time, Tk and Yolei were attacked by Dragomon. He wanted the Key Cards, and was relentless about getting them. Magna Angemon digivolved to his mega form of Goldramon. Dragomon wasn't going to be beaten. He grabbed Yolei and threatened to kill her unless Tk gave up. He gave him the two Key Cards they had and took Tk with him. Oikawa did weird experiments on Tk and forced him to become the Digimon Emperor again.

Henry and I found the Temple of Ebonwumon but Tk was there waiting for us. My Betamon digivolved all the way to his mega form of Megidramon. Henry was kinda freaked out, and even made me stop the battle. He gave Tk the two Key Cards we had and the Digimon Emperor destroyed the Tower of Ebonwumon. What can go wrong now?

DARK OCEAN: Forgotten Memories

In the deserts of the dimension known as the Dark Ocean, two more of the hooded raincoat wearing people were stationed, standing atop one of the rock mesa littering the area. "I hate this desert!" the taller one said, "I wish I was studying Takashi. The others are so lucky, the master likes them better. He didn't send them here."

"You're only comfortable in the water," the girl said, "I don't like this place either. I want something with grass, and trees. I wish I was in the forest, not the forest here, I mean ones back on Earth. You know, the trees that are the same color as American money. I'd even love to be on the sun, the same color as gold!"

The Water Researcher stared at her. "I wish I could understand your love for money."

The Greedy Girl grinned. "You would probably love it if you could. Sometimes I like just lying down in a pile of…"

"Hold it!" her partner interrupted. "It looks like something happening down there. I think we'd better get back to work and watch our two subjects."

Down below, Davis, Catherine and their digimon trekked through the desert. "Mon dieu!" Catherine sighed, whipping the sweat from her forehead, "How much longer?"

Davis sighed, "For the hundredth time, I don't know!"

"Excusez-moi!" she screamed, "Je suis désolé que je sois une telle douleur dans votre âne!"

"I have no idea what that means," he said, "But if it wasn't for me, you'd have fallen into that stream of lava that separated all of us! Veemon and I could be at that stupid Tower all ready if it wasn't for you slowing us down and asking us stupid questions!"

Catherine ignored him and turned to Floramon. " It's all about him, isn't it?" she asked in French.

Her partner nodded. " Maybe we should tell him that we're lost in the desert because of him? " she responded in kind.

" No, let him figure it out for himself. "

Floramon stared at him and Veemon as they walked through the rock-littered desert. Even though the sky was pitch black from the darkness in the Dark Ocean, the desert continued to blast it's heat onto them. " He looks kind of cute, doesn't he? "

" What? Are you crazy! I don't like him! "

" I never said you did. "

She stared at her partner for another second before looking back. "What were you two talking about?" Veemon asked.

"Nothing!" the plant digimon quickly exclaimed.

"You two are weird," Davis sighed, shaking his head.

Catherine glared daggers at him through the back of his head. They continued on in silence. "This sort of reminds me of Piedmon's mountain, doesn't it?" she asked.

Floramon glanced around. "The darkness, yeah."

Catherine smiled slightly. "Just by being here, it's bringing back so many memories for some reason. I can remember when I found zat digivice at camp, zen being pulled into ze Digital World and met you."

Floramon nodded. "We're talking about past lives right? As Mimi and Palmon?"

"Oui," Catherine nodded, "We fought against so many enemies, but ze Dark Masters were ze worst."

"What were they like?"

The two glanced up and saw that Davis and Veemon were looking at them. Davis shrugged slightly. "I mean, you, Kari, Tk and the other kept talking about how the Dark Masters were your worst enemies, but how bad were they?"

"Zey were the worst," she said, "Zey killed digimon like zey were disposing of trash. Just murdering zem and throwing zem away!" She sighed deeply. "Zey killed three of our friends: Chuumon, Pixiemon and Whamon. I made graves to remember zem. It was ze first time I felt loss in zat way. It was horrible, and I don't want to ever feel like zat again."

Davis nodded. "I understand. I guess I'm lucky, I never lost any of my friends like that." He shrugged. "I guess you could even say that all of my friends are in the Dark Ocean." He reached over and patted Veemon on the shoulder. "Even my best bud here."

The blue dinosaur grinned. "Right back atcha buddy." He lightly punched him in the side of the leg. Davis responded by lightly punching in the shoulder. Soon, the two friends started to fight each other in a playful way, rolling along the ground.

Behind them, Catherine sighed. "Why do boyz always have to act like zat?"

Davis and Veemon climbed back onto their feet. "Well," Davis said, brushing his shorts off, "How come girls have to stand around and whine and gossip about their hair?"

She gasped. "Why you-!"

"I hate to interrupt," Veemon gasped, "But I think we've got a problem!"

"What?" Davis asked.

Veemon pointed to the sky. "Him!"

The three remaining beings glanced skyward just in time to see a figure wrapped in white bandages drop in front of them. "Hiya!" he grinned.

"You're Mummymon, right?" Davis asked.

"That's right," he grinned. He pointed a bandaged finger at his opponent. "And you're Daisuke Motomiya, his partner Veemon, Catherine DeGual and Floramon."

"What do you want?" the blond girl asked.

"Your Key Cards. Now, hand them over." He swung his gun out in front of him. "Necrophobia!" The gun fired a lightning bolt of energy into the ground. Veemon and Floramon had only seconds to push their partners out of the way before the energy attack exploded in the ground.

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon! Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon! Kiwimon digivolve to Blossumon!"

Mummymon leapt backwards to avoid Blossomon's laser eyes, but that left him wide open for an attack by Paildramon. The dragon warrior swung his twin shotguns around from behind his back and began firing. "Desperado Blaster!" The mummy digimon moaned in pain as his body was pierce by hundreds of small bullets.

"Leave him to me," Blossomon called, "Spiral Flower!" All of her eyes opened and began to fire beams of lasers into Mummymon's already injured chest. He stumbled backwards, and fell onto his knees.

"Wow, that was easy," Davis said.

"I agree," Catherine said, "but, too easy, maybe?"

"That's right!" Mummymon laughed, jumping back onto his feet. He saw Paildramon from the corner of his eye and fired a stream of bandages from his hands, which wrapped tightly around the dragon's body, constricting his arms to his chests. He smashed the butt of his gun across Paildramon's nose. He pointed his other arm towards the charging Blossumon and wrapped the same bandages around her body as well. "Snake Bandage!"

Above them on the rock mesa, the Water Warrior and the Greedy Girl watched the battle with fierce interest. "It looks like Motomiya and DeGual are really in trouble," the Girl said.

"I wonder if they'll be able to pull through," the Water Warrior said, "I hated to think that a no body like Mummymon could beat them. I really wanted at chance."

Back down below, Davis and Catherine were forcing themselves to stay on the sidelines. "Paildramon!" Davis shouted, "You've got to do something!"

"I..I'm trying!" the dragon said, struggling to free himself from the tight bandages.

"You won't break through that too easily," Mummymon chuckled. He glanced over his shoulder at the trapped Blossomon, "But since I can take my time now…" He put his shotgun back into its holster and relied on his physical attacks to injure the dragon.

"Paildramon!" Davis shouted, "Do something!"

"I'm…I'm trying!" he shouted in between jabs to his mouth, "He's…stronger…then…he looks!"

"Oh, I'm much stronger!" he laughed. After finishing his assault, he put all of his strength and weight into a final punch that sent Paildramon falling onto his back.

"No!" Davis shouted.

"Blossomon!" Catherine shouted. Unfortunately, her scream did not help her partner. Mummymon leapt over to the constricted plant digimon and started to attack in the same merciless manner.

"Oh Blossomon!" she called again, "Blossomon…"

Davis stared at his fallen digimon, then over at the trapped Blossomon, who was being beaten close to deletion. "They're going to get killed, and then he'll take our Key Cards! I've got to stand up to him! I've got to stop him!"

His digivice and crest began to glow in synch. He stared at them with awe before twisting his head to look at his partner. Paildramon's body was starting to glow as well. He grinned and trusted his digivice towards his partner. "Do it!"

******Davis****'s digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a gold hue. It fired a beam of light from its screen up to his Crest of Miracles. The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent. The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Paildramon.**

**"Paildramon digivolve to…"**

**A glowing dragon shot out of the sky and quickly spun around Paildramon, creating a series of glowing circles that enveloped the dragon. These circles shot to the sky before disappearing, revealing a new, larger dragon. He flapped his giant wings as a ball of energy slammed into the ground, sending a shower of rocks into the air. He opened his mouth and roared.**

** "Imperial Dramon!"**

Mummymon stopped his assult and stared up at the impressive being floating in the sky above him. "H..H…H..how?"

"Simple," Davis said, "Because you're nothing but a bully! I think it's time you got a taste of your own medicine! Imperial Dramon!"

The giant dragon shot forward and slammed his head into the mummy digimon, catapulting him off of Blossomon. The mummified digimon growled and pointed his large guns at the hovering digimon. "Necrophobia!" The stream of glowing lightning struck Imperial Dramon on the side of his leg. He gave a shout out in pain, but continued to glare at Mummymon.

"I would be lying if I said that didn't hurt," he replied, "But it's nothing compared to what you're about to feel."

"Ha!" Mummymon laughed, "Really?" He pointed his gun barrel at the still trapped Blossomon. "If you try anything, she dies."

"Oh no!" Catherine gasped.

Imperial Dramon continued to hover in place. "Easy does it," he said, "Let's try to stay calm."

Mummymon continued to stare at the massive mega dragon. He did not notice that, while Blossom could not move, she was still able to stare at the evil digimon. She fired her eye lasers into the hand holding the gun. He was forced to open his hand and the gun dropped to the ground.

"That's it!" Davis shouted, "Finish him off!"

A glowing ball of white energy formed inside of the cannon strapped to his back. This white ball shot out of the front of the cannon, sending a massive stream of energy that tore through Mummymon, deleting him instantly. Imperial Dramon then used his claws to rip the bandages away from Blossomon, finally freeing her. The battle had proved too much for her and she returned to her Floramon stage. Catherine ran over and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you are zafe," she said.

Davis grinned at his partner. "Wow, a mega! I've got a mega! You've got to be the strongest digimon ever!"

"I don't know about that," he replied, "but I do have some more good news. I can travel at the speed of light. We can search the entire Dark Ocean in seconds in order to find the others."

"That's a good idea," Davis said, "But we don't have any idea where they are. We'd just be flying blind."

"Maybe not," Catherine spoke up. She held up her digivice. "Our old digivices were able to track each ozer. Maybe ze new ones can do ze zame."

Davis studied his own digivice. "It's worth a try. All right, Imperial Dramon, let's do it."

On top of the rock mesa, the Water Researcher and the Greedy Girl watched as the three passengers climbed atop Imperial Dramon and the dragon disappeared in the black sky seconds later. "Very interesting," the Water Researcher said.

"I know," the Greedy Girl nodded in reply. "The Master's going to be very interested in this. We'd better get back to him.

"""""""""""""""""""

Salamon began to sniff the air. "What's wrong?" Kari asked.

"I can smell someone's sent in the air," she said, sniffing the air again. She started to walk around in circles, "But I'm having a hard time finding out where it's coming from."

Takato patted Guilmon on the back. "Can you help her?"

"I'll try," he said. He started to sniff the air as well. "She's right. Someone's here that's familiar, it might be one of the others."

"Really?" Kari asked.

"I've smelled the sent before, but I don't know who's it is," he explained, "So I haven't been around it enough." He walked in circles with Salamon before stopping and staring through a row of trees in the forest. "This way." He and the puppy digimon began to run, following the sent their amazing noses were picking up. Their partners ran behind them, desperately trying to get up. Eventually, they could make out two figures resting beside a campfire. "Hey," Kari said, "Isn't that Yolei?"

"That's who I was smelling," Salamon smiled, "Hawkmon!"

"Yolei!" Kari shouted, "Yolei!"

The purple-haired girl strained to smile as her friends ran over to her. "Yolei!" Kari smiled, "I'm glad you're safe." Her attention shifted down to the bird digimon lying on the ground. "What happened to Hawkmon?"

Yolei hugged Kari. "They've got him."

"Who?"

"They got Tk. Dragomon captured him! Oh, Kari, what are going to do?"

The brown-haired girl was about to answer, but stopped when she noticed that her digivice had begun to beep. She lifted it up from her belt and stared at the LCD screen. She saw two blinking lights in one area, and two more blinking lights moving. She had a flash of memory from her time as Tai, and instantly recognized what function the digivice was displaying. "Some of our friends are coming," she said.

They group watched as Imperial Dramon appeared over head, with Catherine and Floramon waving at them from atop his back. After a quickly explanation, they all bored Imperial Dramon and headed for the next nearest digivice signal. They found Tatum and Henry standing next to the remains of a destroyed building.

"Oh no," Catherine said, "Another tower waz destroyed."

"And I don't like the looks on their faces," Takato frowned as Imperial Dramon landed beside Tatum and Henry.

"Guys," Tatum sighed, "We've got some bad news."

"""""""""""""""""""

Rika frowned as she watched Hiroshi and Penmon climb over the hill. "Hurry up!"

The younger teenager glared at her. "You should watch your mouth, you know. I don't usually let people talk to me like that, you're just lucky you're cute."

The orange-haired young woman gasped, her mouth wide open. "You…you little…"

"Oh calm down," he said, "You're a little too old for me anyway…" He added with a slight smile, "Granny."

"Granny!" she shouted, "Granny! For your information, I am only 25! You're what, 10?"

This time, Hiroshi started to get angry. "I am 16, not a little baby! I ran a powerful organization in the Digital World! How dare you!"

Rika crossed her arms and smirked. "I 'dare' because you're not all that great. Ever face down a Sovereign? Let me tell you, Zhuqioamon would crush you and your pathetic Penmon!"

The blue penguin digimon hopped over. "What? Hey, I'm no weakling you know!"

Renamon appeared beside the orange-haired young woman. "She is telling you the truth, even though you might not want to hear it. You are not as strong as you believe yourself to be."

"Oh yeah?" Penmon shouted, "Do 'ya wanna try me?" He was about to charge forward, but was stopped by Hiroshi, who grabbed hold of his shoulders.

"As much as I'd really like to show them, we don't have the time."

"I hate to admit it, but he's right," Rika said, eyeing her partner, "We'd better see if we can get to Zhuqioamon's Tower before it is too late."

They continued on in silence as they crossed the desert. They soon arrived at a range of small mountains, jutting up through the desert sands. One particular mountain caught their attention, while it was the tallest and biggest, it was the structure that appeared to be resting on top that caught their eye.

Hidden on top of one of the adjacent mountain stood the last of the hooded trench-coat wearing observers. He was dressed in dark blue, so dark that it almost blended into the dark atmosphere around them. "I've finally found you, Hiroshi," he grinned, "And I'm gonna make sure that I know your digimon's moves, his powers, his weaknesses, and I'll crush you!"

Down below, Hiroshi strained his neck in order to see the building on the top of the mountain. "I wonder if that's the Tower?"

Rika turned slightly to her partner. "Renamon?"

"Right," she said, vanishing. She reappeared a second later. "It is the tower."

"How did you do that?" Penmon asked, "Did you teleport or what?"

"That's my little secret," she said.

"How do _we _get up there?" Hiroshi asked.

"There's got to be a path or something," Rika said, "Let's take a look around."

Renamon took a step forward but stopped. "Renamon?" the orange-haired young woman asked.

"Digimon are coming," she said, "Evil digimon. Above us!" She pushed Rika out of the way seconds before a beam of light smashed into the ground.

Hiroshi spun his head to the sky and saw an enormous digimon, covered in bronze. On his back rode a figure that caused Hiroshi and Penmon to gasp. "Takashi!" he shouted, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Only what my master Oikawa commands me to do," he replied.

"Hiroshi," Penmon said, "He's wearing that Digimon Emperor outfit again."

The former Dark SEED leader stared at the other teenaged boy. "Takashi, I'll give you one minute to explain yourself, and then we attack."

Tk chuckled. "I want your Key Cards. Hand them over now!"

"What? Are you serious?"

The Digimon Emperor did not respond. "Fine," Hiroshi said, "I don't know what's happened to you, but you're clearly our enemy now. Penmon, digivolve!"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon! Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon!"

"Let's see," Rika said, pointing her digivice towards Tk. A second later, an image appeared over her D-arc. "Goldramon, Holy Dragon Digimon! He's a mega!"

"A mega?" Megaseadramon asked.

"I think we'd better help," Renamon said, stepping forward. "Are you ready, Rika?"

Her partner nodded. "Yes."

"Renamon biomerge to Sakuyamon!"

The fox woman and the bronze dragon leapt at each other and began to battle. "Hey!" Megaseadramon shouted, "What about me?"

"I think, maybe, you should leave them and focus on more pressing concerns."

Hiroshi turned his head towards the source of the mysterious voice and saw a human man standing at the base of the mountain. "Oikawa."

The human smiled. "So, we meet again, Hiroshi Hibishi."

Hiroshi growled. "What are you talking about? I told you that I don't remember ever seeing you before I got stuck in this dark world!"

"Mental manipulations," he chuckled.

"Stop saying that!" Hiroshi shouted, "Why don't you just tell me whatever it is you're trying to say!"

Oikawa chuckled again. "Perhaps, but I think first things first: I want your Key Card."

Hiroshi chuckled and was about to speak, but Oikawa cut him off.

"And I know that you won't give it to me, so I'll have to take it from your dead body, right? Well, that's no problem for my special project here." He snapped his fingers and a dark shadow appeared over head. It hovered in the sky for a full two minutes before landing gracefully beside Oikawa.

The evil human smiled. "Say hello to the all mighty Black Wargreymon!"

"_Black_ Wargreymon?" the Man in Blue gasped, "Interesting. I wonder if other digimon can become 'Black' like that? I think we need to look into it."

Megaseadramon gasped, but Hiroshi just smirked. "Is that really supposed to scare me? What do I care about some Wargreymon wanabe?"  
"Oh this Wargreymon is much stronger then the one Taichi Kamiya used to have," he replied, "Why don't we get started then, huh?" He mentioned to the sky, where Sakuyamon was trying her best to battle Goldramon, "They've started without us. Blackwargreymon, attack!"

Hiroshi nodded. "Go for it, Megaseadramon, just be careful, Wargreymon's a Dramon destroyer, stay away from those claws!"

Blackwargreymon swung his claws at Megaseadramon, but the serpent attacked by sending a bolt of energy into his opponent. "Thunder Javelin!" Blackwargreymon was sending backwards, but the fight was far from over.

"He's not going to make it, you know," Oikawa smirked, "He's going to be destroyed, followed shortly by you. Mr. Hibishi, and once Takashi finishes off Nonaka, we'll take your Key Cards and then D-reaper will be freed!"

"So you can take over the world, right?" he snapped, "I've been down that road before, trust me, it's a stupid idea."

"Take over the world?" he asked, "What makes you think I want to rule the world?"

Hiroshi was surprised. "Then why are you…?"

"You don't get it, do you?" he asked, "D-reaper was the most powerful being in the Tamer's world, nothing existed that was stronger then it, nothing! I plan on using the ultimate being in the Tamers universe, to stop the most powerful being in _our_ universe."

"What are you talking about?"

Above them, the Man in Blue raised an eyebrow and began to listen very intently. Down below, Megaseadramon and Blackwargreymon continued to battle. Blackwargreymon kept trying to attack using his claws, but that left Megaseadramon using her basic energy attacks to keep the dinosaur digimon at a distance, while at the same time using those same energy attacks to chip away at the mega's strength. Unfortunately, while the Ultimate _was _hurting him, the Mega's strength was too abundant to make a difference. Further below, their partners stared down one another.

"What am I talking about?" Oikawa chuckled, "A fallen god of darkness is about to be revived, and his power dwarfs anything we've ever seen before."

"Who?" Hiroshi demanded.

"The Cult of Darkness!"

"Those religious maniacs?" he gasped.

"Those maniacs, as you put it, are craftier then you realize," he said, "Darkness has been worshiped since the beginning of time. Pagan rituals paid tributes to the darkness, but those that worshiped the light pushed those darkness worshipers into hiding. They know how to exist behind the scenes."

"It almost sounds like you admire them," Hiroshi commented, still keeping his eyes on his partner's battle overhead.

"Just because they're my enemy, doesn't mean that I can't respect their powers," he said, "I need to unleash D-reaper in order to stop their plans!"

"I hear that D-reaper almost destroyed the Tamers' world," he said, "What if it destroys ours?"

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," he said.

"But I'm not!" he shouted, "If I had any idea that Myotismon was waiting behind that portal I opened, I would never have opened it!"

"Something else you didn't realize, huh?" he chuckled.

"What are you talking about now?" he shouted.

"Your past," he simply said, "Or rather, the past you can't remember."

"All right, that's it!" he shouted, "I've had enough of this! Just tell me what the hell happened to me!"

Oikawa nodded and crossed his arms. "Very well, all you needed to do was ask, after all. I started Dark SEED in order to try and control the Internet, including the lawmakers that try to control it and the companies that created it. Dark SEED was growing, and the entire organization was becoming world powerful, until that day."

"What day?"

"The day my supposedly loyal servants betrayed me. The people in charge of the rebellion, were named Cho Hung."

"Yuehon's parents?" he gasped.

"That's right," Oikawa said, "and they used _you_ to defeat me."

"What?"

"You have a power hidden within you. I guess my genetic experiments on you did make you a little hostile towards me. Well, in any event, you defeated me, but Cho Hung feared you, more importantly, the hidden power inside you. They altered your memories, and caused you to forget about your power. They implanted memories, erasing others. Unfortunately, they died, and you became the leader." He shrugged. "Not a bad way for a coup, huh?"

"You're lying!" he shouted, "You're lying!"

"If you don't believe me, why don't you try asking your faithful servant, Yuehon?"

"Yuehon..knew?" he asked, "I..I.."

Above them, the Man in Blue lightly rubbed his chin. "So, Oikawa knows about the plan? And what's this with Hiroshi, a hidden power? Very interesting."

Hiroshi glanced upwards to the black sky and watched as Sakuyamon and Goldramon continued to fight. They continued in a fierce physical battle, exchanging blows with one another. He turned his attention to lower in the sky to where his own partner was starting to falter. He called out to him, but Blackwargreymon got a good shot and used his foot to send Megaseadramon crashing into the ground.

"Megaseadramon!" Hiroshi shouted, running over.

"I'll be fine," he coughed, struggling to pull himself back up again, "Just give me a few seconds."

"You don't have a few seconds," Blackwargreymon said, dropping down in front of him, "Prepare to be deleted."

"Megaseadramon," Hiroshi said, "I will not allow you to fail! Get up and show him how powerful we are!" His digivice and crest glowed and showered his partner with a bright light.

**Hiroshi's digivice vibrated fiercely then changed to a gold hue. It fired a beam of light from its screen up to his Crest of Spirit. The symbol of the crest was pushed up by the beam of light, continuing its ascent. The symbol twisted and turned, shattering through a smoke filled sky as it gathered bits of energy and exploded, sending a twisting spiral down, merging with a twisting Megaseadramon.**

**"Megaseadramon digivolve to…"**

**Megaseadramon's body became rigid and straight. He roared as a stream of silver light ran up his serpent body. Starting at the end of the tail, the scales rippled like a waves, transforming the organic into metallic. The light converged on his mouth, creating four sharp fins on the side of his face and two sharp sets of twin teeth appeared in his mouth.**

** "Gigaseadramon!"**

"All right," Hiroshi grinned, "A mega. Now show him what you can do!"

"I'm still a Dramon destroyer," Blackwargreymon said, "And once I slice you open with my claws, you'll be gone forever!"

Gigaseadramon pulled his head back, but shot it forward, sending out a ball of blue light. "Giga Sea Destroyer!"

Blackwargreymon crossed his arms and used his armored gauntlets to block the attack, but quickly pulled his arms open, sending the light scattering around the battlefield. The dinosaur digimon catapulted forward, intending to smash his claws into Gigaseadramon's side, but the serpent anticipated this, and at the last second, moved forward. Blackwargreymon's arms wrapped around Gigaseadramon's back. The serpent wrapped the lower portion of his body around the dinosaur, then twisted his head around and brought his metal fin into Blackwargreymon's back.

He grimaced in pain, but when he tried to free himself, Gigaseadramon squeezed even tighter. "Black Tornado!" he shouted, twisting himself around at an incredible rate. The serpent was flung into the side of the mountain. However, he pulled himself back to attention. Blackwargreymon propelled himself forward, but stopped when a beam of white light shot past him.

"What?" Oikawa gasped. He turned his attention to the sky and watched as Imperial Dramon shot into view.

"Hiroshi!" Kari shouted, waving her hands.

"I guess the Calvary's here," Hiroshi said, grinning at Oikawa, "There's no way you're going to escape now."

The evil human glanced from the left to the right. He was surrounded. "Well, you'll forgive me if I try. Blackwargreymon, destroy Gigaseadramon!"

"Imperial Dramon!" Davis shouted, "Stop the attack!"

"No!" Hiroshi shouted, "We'll handle it!"

His serpent leapt into the air and quickly snapped his tail, sending gray waves flinging towards the black dinosaur. "Sky Wave!" Blackwargreymon was caught in the translucent waves and flipped about.

Kari turned to her partner. "Help him."

Tatum pointed to the sky, where Goldramon and Sakuyamon were still battling. "You help her," she said to her partner.

Both Salamon and Betamon leapt off of Imperial Dramon's back and quickly digivolved to their mega forms, Holydramon and Megidramon. Henry needed to calm Takato down and yell to Sakuyamon that Tatum's partner was a friend, but the red dragon soon hovered beside the fox woman. Imperial Dramon and Holydramon positioned themselves near Gigaseadramon. Takato and Henry bio-merged with their partners to form Gallantmon and Megagargomon, and Catherine and Yolei's partners evolved to Blossomon and Silphymon. Oikawa scanned the collective force surrounding him. He glanced up to the Tower of Zhuqioamon, then back down again. He snapped his fingers, and Blackwargreymon leapt over and, and grabbing his partner by the leg, Oikawa was hoisted into the air.

"Takashi!" he shouted to the Digimon Emperor, "We're leaving!"

"What?" he shouted in surprised.

"Now!"

The Digimon Emperor turned to Sakuyamon and bowed his head. "You'll forgive me, but our dance must come to an end." Goldramon shot after Blackwargreymon like a bronze bullet.

"What about the Tower?" he asked.

"Forget the Towers!" Oikawa shouted back. He glanced downward and focused on Kari, "There is always another way."

"Aren't we going after them?" Megidramon asked.

Tatum looked over at Kari, who hesitated before shaking her head. "No..let's…no."

The braided-haired girl placed a reassuring hand on the brown-haired girl's shoulder. "It's okay, we'll get him back. Don't worry, you saved Tk before, I'm sure we can do it again."

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I hope so."

"At least they didn't destroy the Tower," Davis said, "But what did he mean at the end. 'There's always another way?'"

"I don't have any idea," she sighed.

Down below, Hiroshi smiled at his new mega. "Good job, Gigaseadramon." He glanced over at Sakuyamon, "You said we were weak."

"You might have survived," she said, "But that guy was nothing compared to D-reaper. Trust me. And what was he talking about? All that stuff with your memories?"

Hiroshi shook his head. "Just lies, that's all." Inside his own mind, however, he was full of doubt. Could Yuehon's parents have really done that to him? And did Yuehon really know? The only comporting thought that he had, was that Oikawa had only said _memory _manipulation, nothing about _mind_ controlling. He was still his own master, that much, at least, he was sure of.

High above them, still hidden on the mountain's cliff, the mysterious Man in Blue stared down at the Digidestineds and Tamers, focusing on Hiroshi. "A young man with an interesting past. There's much more to him then meets the eye. I'm sure going to have fun tearing him apart." He turned and vanished into the darkness of the Dark Ocean.

"""""""""""""""

_Preview: _

_Oikawa may have failed in destroying the Towers of the Sovereigns, but he has a new plan in order to achieve his goals, a plan that pits friends against one another. _

_Next: " __Dark__Ocean__: "War of the Dragons." How far will friendship survive?_


	22. DARK OCEAN: War of the Dragons

Catherine here. Davis and I were walking t'rough ze desert, when we were attacked by Mummymon. He waz beating uz pretty bad until Davis used hiz crest power to digivolve Paildramon into Imperial Dramon. After he beat him, Imperial Dramon used hiz speed to find ze ozerz. When we got to Hiroshi, his digimon digivolved to Gigaseadramon and he was fighting Oikawa, and zome kind of Black Wargreymon. Sakuyamon was fighting Tk! He was ze Digimon Emperor again! At least Oikawa left before destroying ze Tower, but what about Tk?

****

DARK OCEAN: War of the Dragons

Tk stared at Oikawa. "Why did you force me to stop? Goldramon could have had Sakuyamon lying face down in the dirt!"

"Sakuyamon, yes, maybe even Gallantmon and Megagargomon," Oikawa said, staring directly at him, "But not the others. Those dragons are from an ancient legend that says they once saved the Digital World from danger. They are incredibly powerful, and if they joined together, they could destroy everything we worked for."

"What about the Towers?" he asked, "Or the Key Cards? We can't revive D-reaper without them!"

"I have to agree with him," Dragomon said, "It seems like you've given up."

"Hardly," he said, "The D-reaper is trapped beneath a seal, a dimensional one. The Key Cards will open a gate to the place where D-reaper is imprisoned, but the Towers simply held the seal of the Sovereigns in place: no exit, in any directions."

"Then…?" Dragomon began, but stopped when Oikawa held his hand up.

"As I was saying, the Key Cards open a gate, but their power _could_ shatter dimensional realities, if held by the right person."

"Who?" Tk asked.

"The Key Cards have one true owner, the Holy Prince of Heroes."

"Kari?" Patamon gasped.

"That's right," Oikawa nodded, "In every time of darkness for the Digital World, a Holy Prince of Heroes appears, with command over the Key Cards. The first one was named Ryo Akiyama if I'm not mistaken."

_"Ryo?"_ Tk thought, "_but how can that be?"_

"But in any event," Oikawa said, "If we could force Kamiya to use the Cards to break the seal, we'll have one."

"How do you know this?" Tk asked.

"Simple," Oikawa smirked, "The Holy Book."

"You have the Holy Book?"

The older man nodded. He reached into his desk drawer and removed a thick book. It's bright golden color had now become a dirty bronze, but Tk and Patamon instantly recognized the power and wisdom this book no doubt held. "This is the Holy Book."

"Amazing," the Digimon Emperor said in awe.

"Yes, yes," Dragomon said, "But how are we going to get Kamiya to _give _us the Key Cards, much less use them to open the seal?"

Oikawa grinned. "To answer that, we need to ask the question: 'At what price are you willing to sell your soul?' And I think that love will always be the answer."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"So," Henry said, lightly rubbing the bottom of his chin, "You all have dragon digimon now. That probably means something."

"Remember that legend you told us?" Salamon said, "The one about the dragons that would save the world?"

"I don't think they would necessarily _save_ the world," Henry pointed out, "I think they were going to appear at the end of the Digital World."

"That's great," Rika sighed, "What about your pal, Tk?"

"Oikawa has him under his control," Yolei said, lightly grasping her hands in front of her, "I just hope we can save him."

Davis glanced over to Hiroshi. "Do you have any ideas?"

"No."

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" You haven't said a grumpy comment or a sarcastic remark."

"Nothing."

"I have a suggestion," Takato said, "But it's going to be difficult."

"What?"

"Oikawa's base," he said, "If we try to sneak inside, we might be able to bring an end to this rather quickly. Besides, you need the Key Cards they have anyway."

"All right," Kari said, "I think we can all agree that we need to get some rest, it's been a pretty long day."

The others reluctantly agreed and set up a small camp. Night soon arrived and the group fell fast asleep. All except for Kari, who found that she was wide awake, despite how hard she was trying to sleep. She twisted onto her side, but the thin blanket that she was lying on did not offer any padding at all; she was still basically sleeping on the ground. She tried to sleep on her stomach, but that just hurt her neck. She returned onto her back and tried to remain perfectly still and breathed heavily, but it was no use, she could not sleep.

She growled and rose to her feet. She saw that the others were sleeping and felt a little jealous that they were asleep and she was not. She decided to take a walk through the forest, as she did the real reason for her insomnia began to float through her mind.

When they had become trapped in this Dark Ocean, Kari was in deliberation over her feelings towards Tk and Yolei. She cared, loved, for them both very deeply, but she could not be in love with both. She either needed to be with one of them, or neither.

She sat down and leaned back against one of the dark trees. She had put this off for too long: she needed to make a choice. She did love Yolei, but that was only because of their past lives; however, it was that same past lives that was affecting her possible relationship between her and Tk. Who could she possibly choose? Could she even do that to her friends? She deliberated for what seemed like hours, before arriving at a decision. She rose to her feet once more and sighed deeply. She had made her choice, and she could not go back now.

She slowly walked back towards the camp, when she heard someone scream out her name. "Salamon?" she gasped. She started to run as fast as she could and when she arrived at their camp she caught a glimpse of Blackwargreymon hovering in the air, holding Oikawa with one hand and Yolei and Hawkmon with the other.

"Yolei!" Kari shouted.

Blackwargreymon shot one of his claws directly in front of the purple-haired girl's neck. "One wrong move," he said, "And she dies, understand?"

"What do you want?" Davis shouted.

"What do you think?" he chuckled.

"The Key Cards," Kari said. She walked through the center of the group and stared up at the invaders. "I'm not going to give them to you."

Blackwargreymon squeezed tighter on Yolei and Hawkmon. "Not even for them?"

"Don't…do…it…"Yolei struggled to breath, "I'm…not…worth it!"

Kari hesitated. She could not give him the Key Cards, but what about Yolei? If Oikawa really wanted to kill her, she had no doubt that he would. She hesitated, and hated herself for it.

Suddenly, they heard Catherine and Floramon shout out. "Catherine!" Davis shouted, spinning around. Dragomon had his squid-like tentacles wrapped tightly around them both.

"Let them go you squid breath!" Veemon shouted.

"Put me down!" Catherine shouted, trying to free herself from Dragomon's tentacles.

"All right!" Kari shouted, "Give him the Key Cards."

The others reluctantly reached into their pockets and handed the remaining Key Cards to the dark human. "Now let them go!" Kari demanded.

"There is a new demand" Oikawa said, "if you want them, then follow me back to the Sovereigns Castle. "

"Sovereigns Castle?" Henry asked.

"The meeting ground for the four gods of the digital sky," he said, "But it had been abandoned by the time I arrived." He nodded slightly to his digimon. Blackwargreymon shot across the night sky. "I'll be waiting for you!"

"Ahh!" Catherine called as she and Floramon were forcefully taken by Dragomon deeper into the woods of the Dark Ocean.

"We've got to go after them!" Davis shouted.

"But it's a trap," Henry pointed out.

"Don't you think I know that?" he gasped, "But Catherine is…"

"And what about Yolei?" Kari asked, "Even if it is a trap, we can't just leave them there!"

"He wants us to go to him," Tatum said, "And we have to figure out why."

"He forced us to give him the Key Cards," Rika replied, "But how can even use them if two of the Towers are still standing?"

"We're going to have to find that out," Kari said, "We can't leave them there."

Takato was silent up until this point. "All right. Let's split ourselves into two groups; this way we can at least have _some_ form of surprise attack."

"Sounds good to me," Davis said, "Who's going where?"

"Kari, Tatum, Henry and I will go first," Takato said.

"Wait," Hiroshi finally spoke, "I want to go in first. There are some things that I need to talk to Oikawa about."

"Like what?" Davis asked.

"Does it really matter?" he shouted, "I'm going in first!"

"All right," Takato said, "Henry, do you mind staying back?"

He shrugged. "If you really want me too, then okay."

The older goggle-wearer nodded. "All right. You stay here until we call for you."

"Wait a second," Davis said, "Our D-terminals aren't working in this world for some reason."

"Damn, I forget for a second," he frowned, "All right, you've got a watch, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Give us three hours. If we're not out by then, come in after us."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Deep in the marshes of the Dark Ocean, the Digidestined's airship, the _Boreas,_ remained stranded, tangled in the thick weeds and dark plants. Outside, Stingmon hovered above the dozen propeller blades along the airplane-like wings. "All right!" he shouted.

Inside the bridge, Ken pressed a series of buttons along the main control board. "I hope this works."

Outside, Stingmon hovered for a few more moments before shouting back. "It didn't work."

Back inside, Ken sighed deeply. "No luck, huh?" Cody asked, entering the control room.

"I don't understand it," he said, "We've checked the entire airship, we repaired the problems. We should be able to take off."

"So what does that mean?" Armadillomon asked.

"I think something else is preventing us from taking off, like an energy field or something similar," he sighed, "I know Kari sent us that e-mail and told us to stay here, but I can't help but feel that they're in danger."

"They probably are," Cody sighed, sitting down in the seat adjacent to his, "So, what do we do now?"

"I don't like it, but we wait."

Outside the doorway to the bridge, a small bat hovered in the hall. It quickly turned and flew back through the maze of halls and doors until it reached the cargo hold, where Myotismon still remained bound and tired to the metal wall. The bat began to squeak and the vampire nodded.

"I see. So, an energy field of some sort is preventing us from leaving here." He frowned, "I must return to the Digital World as soon as possible, I refuse to be trapped here a moment longer. I was content to let the Digidestined free us, but now I see I may have to aid them."

The bat squeaked again and started to beat it's wings against the metal bars. The locks soon broke off and the metal bars swung open. Myotismon stepped out and stretched his arms. He made a motion with his hands and the bat flew into the cage and quickly changed to the shape of a sleeping Myotismon. The real Myotismon re-attached the metal bars, then grinned to himself. He walked through the maze of halls until he arrived at the main doors of the ship. He easily opened the doors and exited the ship, flying into the sky.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"They're here," Oikawa said.

"I guess they fell right into your trap, huh?" Tk asked.

"They're not as smart as they claim to be," Oikawa grinned, as he and the Digimon Emperor stood outside of the Sovereigns Castle, "You will break Kamiya, understand?"

He nodded. "Right."

"I will be waiting inside." He turned around and walked up the stairs and through the elegant double doors of the castle. Tk watched him leave, but turned back in time to watch Kari, Hiroshi, Tatum and Takato appear from the sky.

"Tk!" Kari shouted, "Where's Yolei and Catherine?"

"You'll have to get past me first," he said, "And I'm not going to make it easy."

Kari sighed. "Tk, I don't want to fight you."

"Then you're going to lose," he smirked. He nodded to Patamon. "Do it."

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon! Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon! Magna Angemon digivolve to Golddramon!"

Takato reached for his D-arc, when Kari stopped him. "No, you look for Yolei and Catherine." She stared up at the Digimon Emperor. "If he really wants to fight, then I suppose I don't have a choice. Salamon…"

Her small partner jumped into the air. "Salamon digivolve to Gatomon! Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon! Angewomon digivolve to Holydramon!"

The two giant dragons hovered in the sky, staring at one another, growling under their breaths. The brown-haired girl nodded to Takato. "Go, now."

"Good luck," Betamon called as the group ran into the castle. Kari noticed how Tk simply ignored them as they ran inside. Either he only cared about fighting Kari, or something else.

"Are we ready to get started?" Tk asked.

She sighed again. "I suppose if we must."

The Digimon Emperor's smirk grew even wider, "Goldramon, attack!"

The muscular dragon moved forward and began by fiercely punching Holydramon in the side of the face. She hovered backwards, before she quickly used her sharp fangs to bit down on Goldramon's arms. He swung his other arm around started to pound the pink dragon's head. Holydramon swung her tail around and wrapped it around Goldramon's neck and squeezed tightly, before he finally stopped his assault and Holydramon jumped back.

The bronze dragon placed both of his palms together, closed his eyes and yellow lightning began to flow over his arms. He opened his eyes and shouted, "Summon!" Instantly, a transparent figure of a humanoid giant appear from the sky and pelted Holydramon with a barrage of white energy blasts.

"Holydramon!" Kari called out to her partner, "Are you all right?"

The pink dragon did not respond to her partner, but instead continued to attack Goldramon. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Apocalypse!"

Her body suddenly glowed with an explosion of white light that caused everyone to shield their eyes. When it was over, Goldramon's body was covered with scratches and what appeared to be burnt scars. Holydramon smirked. "How did you like that?"

Goldramon roared and the war of the dragons continued.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Inside the Sovereigns Castle, Takato, Tatum and Hiroshi ran through the halls, which were decorated as elegantly as any medieval palace. Many paintings and tapestries of the four holy beasts still hung in the dreary halls, giving a sense of illumination, even in this place of darkness.

When they rounded a corner, they saw a group of Divermons waiting for them. "We've got company!" Penmon gasped.

"We've got to get through them quickly," Takato said, "Digivolve!"

"Guilmon digivolve to Growlmon!"

"Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon!"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon!"

The three digimon leapt into battle.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Back outside, the battle between Holydramon and Goldramon continued. Both dragons ferociously tore into one another, using their fangs, claws and tails to try and overpower the other. So far, neither one had given up.

"Come on, Holydramon!" Kari cheered, "You can do it! Come on!"

"Goldramon," Tk said, "I forbid you to lose!"

Kari stared at him; then looked back to the battle. Holydramon curled her body like a snake and opened her mouth. "Holy Flame!" she shouted, firing a geyser of flames at the bronze dragon. Goldramon barely moved out of the way in time. He countered by firing his own gold Flame at her. She was able to leapt out of harms way, but with only seconds to spare. Goldramon shot over and grabbed her; one hand near her tail, and the other by her head. Her pulled as hard as he could.

"Stop it!" Kari shouted, almost in tears, "Stop it!"

Goldramon brought Holydramon's head up near his, and for a second she thought he was going to rip his own fangs into her, but he released the grip on her head. However, before Holydramon could escape, he used his other hand, which was still holding her tail, to smash her head into the ground. He repeatedly did this until Holydramon's body finally glowed a bright light, and regressed to her Rookie form.

"Salamon!" Kari cried, "Salamon!" She ran over and hugged her partner tightly. She did not even noticed the Digimon Emperor standing over her. He reached down and grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to stand. He twirled her around and started push her towards the doors of the Sovereign Castle.

"Don't worry," he suddenly whispered into her ear, "Don't worry."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Takato's group smashed down the door and ran into a room they assumed was the center of the castle on the bottom floor. The room was almost completely bare except for a strange symbol in the shape of a circle in the center of the floor, covered by a dome of glass; the ten Key Cards were arranged around the circumference. Oikawa himself was standing before them with Blackwargreymon holding Yolei and Hawkmon and Dragomon clutching Catherine and Floramon by their necks.

"Welcome," Oikawa said, "I'm surprised to see you here without Kamiya, where is she?"

"Right here," Tk answered, walking inside with Kari and Salamon in front of him, "I have completed my assignment."

Oikawa grinned. "Very good. Well, now that you are all here…"

"What is going on?" Takato shouted.

Oikawa nodded and mentioned to the circle beneath the dome. "That is the seal of the sovereigns. Beneath that lies the D-reaper, trapped forever." He smiled again, "But soon, it will be freed."

"You won't be able to control D-reaper," Takato said, "It's too powerful."

"We'll just see about that."

"How are you going to do that anyway?" Tatum asked, "I thought that you needed to destroy those towers…?"

"Yes, that's true, but after my defeat, I realized that there could be a much simpler way to do that," he pointed at Kari, "You!"

"M..Me?" she asked, "But.."

"You are the Holy Prince of Heroes," he said, "The Key Cards truly belong to you. You will use them to free D-reaper."

"Not a chance!" she said, "Even if I knew _how_ to, I would never for you."

He nodded and mentioned to Dragomon. "Kill her."

"Ce qui!" she shouted.

The evil squid grinned. "I think I'm going to enjoy this! If there's anything you want to say, you'd better do it now." He began to tighten his grip on their necks, when he was suddenly hit in the chest by a powerful energy blast. Catherine and Floramon fell to the ground and stared over at the one who had freed them, Goldramon.

"Takashi!" Oikawa shouted, "What are you doing!"

"Just setting my friends free," he said, stepping forward. He reached for his Digimon Emperor mask and ripped it off, throwing in to the ground. He smashed his foot on the fallen mask.

"Tk?" Tatum asked, staring at him.

He smiled. "Oikawa's machine had no affect on me at all."

"What!" he shouted.

"Your machine couldn't bring out the Digimon Emperor part of me, because _he_ doesn't exist anymore! I've made my peace with who I was, and it's not going to haunt me anymore! Just a bit of advice, don't go telling your enemies your plans, otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea what that machine did."

"You were just pretending?" Tatumon's Sand Yanmamon gasped, "You fought me!"

"I'm sorry about that," Goldramon said.

"Oikawa knew right where to send his goons after us when we were separated," Tk said, "I was afraid he had some way of keeping tabs on us, maybe even watching us. I couldn't take the chance of him finding out I wasn't on his side, but it was all worth it. I got what I came here for." He reached underneath of his shirt and pulled out a dull-colored book.

"The Holy Book!" Oikawa shouted, "You stole it from me!"

"And you stole it from Wisemon!" Tk shouted.

Takato glanced over at Kari. "Did you know about this?"

"We only found out when he fought us," she explained, "Goldramon told Holydramon to pretend to lose so we could get inside."

"Well, excellent strategy," he said, "You had me completely fooled, but you will still open that seal for me. You may have freed DeGual, but in case you haven't noticed I still have Inoe."

"It doesn't matter," Salamon said, jumping from Kari's arms to the ground, "We'll save her then beat you!"

Oikawa nodded slightly to Blackwargreymon. The evil version digimon quickly kicked off the glass dome, revealing the seal. He tossed both the purple-haired girl and her partner into the circle, where they vanished.

"Yolei!" Tk shouted.

"Yolei!" Kari called, "Oikawa, what did you do to them?"

"As it is now, that seal is only one way," he explained, "If you want to free them, you will have to break the seal."

"Don't do it!" Hiroshi shouted, "You'll give him exactly what he wants!"

Kari thought back to what Yolei had told her before, that she was not worth it. The brown-haired girl sighed. "You are to me," she muttered. She reached into her backpack and removed her Holy Lances. She took a deep breath and ran towards the circle.

"Key Cards!" she shouted, "If I can control you, then give me your power, combine it with the Holy Lance. With your combined power, I break the seal!" She slammed one of the ends onto the seal itself, and like glass, it shattered, exploding in a geyser of light, the force of which sent Kari flying backwards. The Key Cards were caught in the maelstrom of energy and flung about the room.

"The Key Cards!" Tk shouted, "Get them, quick!"

Oikawa ignored the Key Cards flying about the room, and the Digidestineds successful attempt to gather them back. He could only stare at the column of erupting light. "It will soon be free, D-reaper…."

"Got all the Key Cards?" Kari asked.

"…cinq…six…sept…huit…neuf…dix," Catherine said, handing Kari the deck of cards. She placed them into her pocket.

"Yolei," Tk asked, helping her onto her feet, "Was the D-reaper inside?"

She nodded. "Y..yeah, but.."

"What's that?" Sand Yanmamon shouted.

Inside of the cylinder of light, a massive figure had appeared, but was covered in shadows. "D-reaper?" Tatum asked.

The figure in the shadows suddenly shrunk into a much smaller form and fell onto the ground just before the circle, one that Takato instantly recognized.

"Jeri!" he gasped.

"That's Jeri?" Kari asked.

"What is this!" Oikawa demanded, "Where is my ultimate weapon?"

"Don't worry," Dragomon said, "That girl must now." He whipped out his tentacle, but Goldramon fired his Gold Flame onto the ground. It exploded in light and smoke, and when the flames subsided, the Digidestined were gone.

"Find them!" Oikawa ordered.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Digidestined found a small cul-de-sac to hide inside of. After making certain that they were safe, the stared with interest at the young girl lying unconscious on the floor before them. To their surprise, she began to move. "Takato!" Tatum called, "I think she's starting to wake up."

Takato stared as the young girl began to shake and slowly open her eyes. She gasped loudly and started to back up. "Wait!" the goggle wearer called, "Jeri, it's okay."

"W..who…w..where…" she said in a very course voice.

"It's really you," Takato said, finding he had a difficulty swallowing, "I never thought I'd see you again."

She swallowed again. "W..who..?"

"It's me, Takato."

She stared at him for a very long time. "Takato!" she gasped, "H..how can you be Takato? You can't be, you're…you're…"

"Not a kid anymore," he said, "But…but you're still the same age you were when…when…"

Guilmon reached over and lightly sniffed her. "It's Jeri all right," he said, "She has the same exact sent."

"Wh..what happened?" Jeri asked.

"What's the last thing you can remember?" Takato asked.

She closed her eyes. "D..D-reaper! D-reaper fighting Gallantmon, Sakuyamon and Megagargomon…"

Takato nodded. "Yeah. Megagargomon tried to use a version of the Juggernaut system to pull the D-reaper into the Land of the Sovereigns, but you went with it. The four Sovereigns used a dimensional seal and trapped you and the D-reaper away…"

"H..How long?" she suddenly snapped.

"S..sixteen years…"

"S..sixteen…but…but why do I still…"

The other Digidestined, who had been silently observing the conversation up until this point, all glanced to the ground. "Um," Tatum spoke up, "If you were connected to the D-reaper, then maybe it's digital information kept you from ageing too."

"S..sixteen years?" she gasped, "Sixteen…" She looked over at Takato, and then began to hyperventilate. "I..I can't…" she wheezed.

Takato made a motion with his hand to reach over to her, but she batted his hand away. "Stay away!" she screamed. She jumped onto her feet and ran out of the small cul-de-sac.

"Jeri, wait!" Takato shouted, trying to run after her, but it was no use: she had disappeared into the maze of hallways inside the Sovereigns Castle.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Lord Bakemon bowed before the statue. "God of Darkness," he said, "We have done as you have commanded, we have worshiped only you." He placed his hands together, "Oh Dark Lord, why have you forsaken us? We have done as you have commanded, why have you left us in our hour of need?"

He suddenly felt an energy flowing around him, one of almost complete darkness. He slowly brought his head up and saw that the statue of the God of Darkness was beginning to glow a dark light. He watched as the light flowed from the statue and merged together before him, into a figure with a mane of dark hair, wearing a indigo colored trench coat.

"L…lord…?"

The mysterious Chess-player nodded, grinning. "Yes, loyal Lord Bakemon, I am here, and I have not forsaken you."

Lord Bakemon hovered off of the ground. "What it is your command, my lord?"

"We will discuss that in time," he said, "For now, you must prepare rooms for my associates and me."

"O...of course," he nodded. He turned and shot down the hall.

The rooms were prepared and the six other trench coat wearing beings soon appeared. They met in the main room of the Temple of Darkness, where the Chess-player, the God of Darkness, sat lazily on a throne. "What have you to report?" he asked.

"They are all very powerful," the Scientist said, "but my supreme intellect and power will make sure they fail!"

"You arrogant and prideful idiot!" the Man in Blue shouted, "You don't have more power them me!"

"You need to learn to control your rage, you know," the Chess-player said with a slothful smile. He turned to glance at the others, "Now, I want an accurate report."

"Kamiya is powerful," the Woman in Red said, sitting down on the Chess-player's lap and running her finger across his chest, "But not anywhere near _your_ strength my lord. In fact, it's not even fair to compare you together." She wrapped her hands around his neck and nuzzled him, which caused the Water Researcher to cast an envious glance at the Chess-player.

"Tatum has a mega digimon also," the Girl in Black spoke in, "And she has _two_ evolutionary lines for her partner." She frowned, "I want my partner to have two evolutionary lines. I want that power! I want it!"

"Oh shut up!" the Greedy Girl snapped, "If anyone deserves more power, it's me! Power and money, lots and lots of money!" She twisted into a cruel smile, but instantly dropped it when the Chess-player was staring at her, "Um, DeGual is nothing to be afraid of; her partner can only reach her Ultimate level."

"Motomiya may cause a problem, but I think we can handle him," the Water Researcher said.

"Takashi will easily fall before our power!" the Scientist grinned.

"And I don't think Hiroshi will prove too much of a challenge," the Man in Blue said.

The Chess-player nodded slowly. "Excellent. What of the Dark Ocean itself? Can they escape?"

"The Dark Ocean is on a sub-plain of the Digital World," the Scientist said, "We were able to pass through because of our time/space powers, but the Digidestined won't be able to leave unless the gate is opened."

"Good. I'd like to think that we won't have to deal with them, but I highly doubt that." His face twisted into a hideous smile, "But if they try to cross us, those so called 'Digidestined' will die!"

_Preview: _

_Jeri has been freed from her prison, but where is the D-reaper? Can the Digidestineds and Tamers escape the __Dark__Ocean__, before Oikawa truly unleashes the ultimate weapon? And lurking in the shadows, Myotismon!_

_Next: " __Dark__Ocean__: Escape." Can true love survive? _


	23. DARK OCEAN: Escape

Yolei here. Last time we all joined up again, and we were wondering what to do about Tk, when Dragomon and Oikawa showed up. They kidnapped me and Catherine to lure Kari and the others to his base, the Sovereigns Castle. Oikawa then through me into the seal in order to force Kari to use the Key Cards to crack the seal. I got out, but inside wasn't D-reaper, it was this girl named Jeri!

DARK OCEAN: Escape

Takato sighed in a mixture of worry and annoyance. "Where can she be?" He slammed his hand into the hall of the Sovereigns Castle, "Damn it!"

"We'll find her, don't worry," Kari said, "She couldn't have gotten really far."

"We have to find her before Oikawa!" he shouted, "We have to find her!"

The others stared at him. "And we will," Tatum said.

The older goggle wearer sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. I…I'm…I don't know…I…"

"It's okay," Kari said, "We know how you feel about her. We'll find her, I swear."

Takato smiled weakly. "I know, thanks." He sighed deeply, "I never thought that I'd ever see Jeri again. I always thought she was dead, for sixteen years I thought she was dead and now…now…she's alive, and still ten years old!"

The others were silent before Hiroshi spoke. "I hate to bring this up, but where is this D-reaper?"

"Maybe it iz ztill inside ze zeal?" Catherine suggested.

"But I still have the Key Cards," Kari said, "So Oikawa can't open it again."

"But I thought you broke it," Guilmon said, "So wouldn't D-reaper come out too?"

"He's right," Tatum said, "What's going on here?"

"We need answers," Hiroshi said, "I think that girl can give them to us."

"Her name is Jeri," Takato glared at him, "Don't forget it."

"Don't start fighting!" Catherine snapped, "Let uz juzt find Jeri."

Takato stared at Hiroshi a second longer before twirling his head back around. "Let's go."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Jeri ran through the halls of the Sovereigns Castle, panting heavily and with tears pouring down her face. She finally stopped and collapsed onto the ground, her back pressed up against one of the walls with a stain glass window above her. She began to sob loudly. "This is all a dream, this is all a dream. All I have to do is wake up, I just need to wake up."

She hugged her knees to her chest and squeezed the back of her neck. "This is just a dream. I'm at home, sleeping in my bed…This isn't happening…it isn't happening…"

She suddenly heard footsteps moving towards her. She shot her head up and saw a man with long hair and a jacket walking towards her. "I'm sorry my dear," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"W..who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Yukio," he smiled warmly, "Yukio Oikawa, and I am the one who helped to set you free."

"W..what?"

"Please, I do not mean you any harm," he said, speaking very softly and moving towards her very slowly," I only wish to help you."

"H..help me?" she asked.

He nodded. "That is correct. I want to know about D-reaper, can you tell me?"

"D-reaper?" she screamed, backing up quickly, "D-reaper!"

"Shh, shh," he said slowly, "It's okay, it's okay."

Jeri started to calm down. "Why do you want to know about D-reaper?"

He hesitated. She was beginning to reach a state of shock; he needed to keep her calm. "There is a great evil in the Digital World, one that I need to stop at all costs, but it's power is great. I have heard that D-reaper is capable of deleting even high level digimon, that the Sovereigns themselves were in danger of being destroyed. Something of that power could stop this evil!"

Jeri stared at him with narrow eyes. "No one can control D-reaper," she said, "No one."

"I was hoping that you might be able to help me in that respect," he still smiled with the same expression.

The girl in the green dress stared at him, daggers in her eyes. "What's the name of this evil anyway? Who is it?"

Oikawa's smile faded. "A digimon that tried to destroy the Digital World, what seems like such a long time ago. He was defeated by others, but his very nature does not allow him to be destroyed, not by mortals, in any case."

"You're not answering me!" Jeri yelled, "Who is it? Why do you think you want D-reaper?"

Oikawa frowned. "Fine. This digimon is named…"

"Jeri!"

They spun around and saw Takato leading his small group running towards them through the hall. "Them again?" he sighed. He lifted up his hand and snapped his fingers. Almost instantly, Blackwargreymon flew past Oikawa and Jeri and landed before the Digidestined.

"You again?" Penmon replied in a childish voice. He turned to his partner, "Give me the word and I'll digivolve and rip this guy apart!"

Hiroshi nodded and reached for his Digivice. "Go!"

Blackwargreymon placed his hands together and his entire body began to spin. "Black Tornado!" His spinning body dove into the floor, sending up a giant cloud of debris and smoke. When the dust cloud had dissipated, Blackwargreymon, Jeri and Oikawa were gone.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Myotsimon stared up at the large double doors. "So, this is the center of the Dark Ocean, is it? I would guess that if I were to generate a field that would prevent a ship from leaving, I'd put it in the center."

He smiled to himself and started to walk inside.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When the digimon of the Digidestined and Tamers smashed through the door at the end of the hall, they entered a room that was full of computer and electrical equipment around the outer wall. Jeri was standing in the center, with Oikawa, Blackwargreymon, and Dragomon standing around her.

"You again?" Oikawa shouted, "What is it with you?"

"Jeri!" Takato shouted. The girl in the green dress stared at him, visibly shaken.

"T..takato.." she stuttered, "I..I…"

"Enough!" Dragomon shouted, firing his Forbidden Trident attack into the ground directly before the Digidestined and Tamers, sending them flipping over backwards. Blackwargrmon appeared a second later, landing into the floor with such force that it sent a shockwave through the ground, knocking the Digidestined that were not already on the ground onto their rears.

"They won't bother us, my dear," Oikawa smiled at Jeri, "Now, let's see if you can tell me where D-reaper is."

Jeri glared at him. "You still haven't told me how you expect to control D-reaper."

He mentioned to the mechanical equipment around the wall. "I know about D-reaper's absorption properties. Once it absorbs this room, it will absorb that explosive equipment. I will threaten to destroy it from the inside if it does not obey."

"That is a good idea, but it will not work against D-reaper!" she snapped back.

Oikawa grinned. "We shall find out, won't we? Now, where is D-reaper?"

"Jeri!" Takato shouted. She turned to look at him, "Don't do it! He's going to ruin the entire world! Don't tell him where D-reaper is!"

"You have to!" Oikawa shouted, "Remember what we talked about, remember the digimon that is going to ruin the world? Remember?"

"I..I.."

Oikawa grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her ferociously. "Tell me now! Tell me!" He stared into her eyes, but saw something strange, like a fire being released. She screamed, and some unknown force through him back. The others stared with horror and awe.

"Jeri?" Takato asked.

"You want D-reaper!" she screamed, "_I_ am D-reaper, and D-reaper is me! We're connected, and I've kept D-reaper inside of me for sixteen years! For sixteen years I was trapped inside of that seal, and now I am free!"

She spread her arms open and red tendrils exploded from her back, smashing into the wall and covering it with a thick red substance that flowed over all the four walls and smashing into the floor, sending a massive wave of red towards the Digidestined and Tamers. A massive light exploded from Kari's pocket mysteriously.

"The Key Cards?" she asked.

The light from the Key Cards and the red substance of the D-reaper merged together, bathing the Digidestined and Tamers in a mysterious mixture. "What's going on here?" Tatum shouted.

"D-reaper activated the Key Cards somehow!" Kari gasped as the mysterious reddish light completely enveloped them.

A few floors down, Myotismon was walking through the castle halls when the strange reddish light exploded through the walls itself, completely enveloping him.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_When the mysterious light faded, Kari and Tk found themselves floating in a strange dark void. "Where are we?" Patamon asked._

_ "And where is everyone else?" Tk asked, looking around._

_ Kari suddenly gave a shocked yelp. "What is it?" the blond boy asked._

_ "There!" the brown-haired girl said, pointing to an area below them. There was a group of pre-teens and digimon floating in the darkness as well. They were facing a massive creature with a cube body._

_ "Apocalymon?" Tk asked, "Then, those kids…"_

_ "It's us," Kari said, "The Key Cards brought us back here. They must have."_

_ "Or we're in our memories," Salamon said, "We were all here at the same time."_

_ The foursome watched as Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon started flying towards Apocalymon._

_ "Metal Wolf Claw!"_

_"Terra Force!"_

_The two attacks disintegrated Apocalymon's upper body in an explosive array of light that illuminated the dark void around him and the Digidestined_

_"We did it!" Matt cheered_

_"We destroyed all of his claws!" Joe said_

_"Still think you're so tough?" Tai asked_

_Apocalymon's body started to fold in on himself and turn back into a cube "Is that the best you've got?"_

_"You know you're beaten!" Matt said,"Face it like a mon!"_

_"You think so, huh? I might be beaten," Apocalymon said,"but I won't go down that easily I'll take you and both worlds with me!"_

_"What?" Tai asked_

_"You still haven't seen my ultimate attack! Total Annihilation!" His cube continued to shrink until it suddenly exploded in a tremendous blast of light. _

_"He's gonna destroy everything!" Matt said._

_"I should have made out my will," Joe gasped._

_"I'm too good looking to go!" Mimi protested._

_"There must be a solution," Izzy rationalized._

_"We won't give up!" Matt said._

_"We're stronger than he is!" Tai agreed.  
"We're a team!" Joe said.  
"Its destiny!" Sora said.  
"We're the Digidestined!" everyone cried.  
Suddenly, their Digivices flew from their resting places on their belts and headed towards the growing ball of light. They arranged themselves in two triangles on both sides, on in each corner of each triangles: Izzy's purple one, then Mimi's green one, Joe's black one, Sora's red one, Matt's blue one, and last was Tai's orange one. The lattice of energy connected around the ball, preventing it from growing any larger. It exploded, but, the force never reached outside the energy cube.  
"What happened?" Metalgarurumon asked.  
"I'm not sure," Wargreymon said.  
"What happened to the explosion?" Joe asked.  
Izzy said," It was completely contained, by the power of our Digivices!"  
"Then, we've won?" Mimi asked.  
"Yes," Tai said, smiling proudly, "We won!"_

_ The smoke from Apocalymon's contained explosion was still floating in the sky behind them. The Digidestined moved away from the smoke slightly and examined the blackness around him. Mimi sighed as she looked around. "It looks like we were too late to save the Digital World."  
"At least we were able to save Earth," Joe said, surprising everyone with his optimism.  
"The Digital World hasn't been destroyed," Izzy said, riding on top of Megakabuterimon,"We're in a totally different area."  
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.  
Izzy mentioned with his hands to the dark void surrounding them. "After __Spiral__Mountain__ was destroyed, it created a rip in time and space, opening a door to the, as Genai called it,"The place beyond the Wall of Fire."  
"So," Tai said,"We just have to find the doorway and we'll be able to get out of here?"  
Izzy nodded,"Yes, back to the real Digital World."  
Tai nodded. He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly. "Sora," he said, completely surprised when she kissed him directly on the lips. He pulled her away, a very surprised look on his face.  
"Sorry," Sora said,"we just almost died...and...well, I.." She shrugged, "I guess I just got carried away."  
Tai half smiled,"Hey, I didn't mind."  
Matt did not say anything as he turned away. "We should get out of here."  
"Yeah," Mimi said,"I just wish we could have stopped him before Wizardmon, Chuumon, Leomon, and Whamon were killed."  
Joe looked at her, then over his shoulder. "AhhhAHHHHH!"  
"What is it?" Mimi asked. She turned around and screamed as loud as she could. The other Digidestineds turned and stared at the dissipating smoke and screamed in turn. Apocalymon was very much alive and still floating in the sky._

_ "B..But how?" Izzy gasped._

_ "Do you really think that I would use an attack that would destroy _me_ as well?" he laughed, "But you're actually lucky, I can generally only use that attack once per battle. But I still have more then enough energy to destroy you!" He stared at Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon, "And you two shall be first!" He fired a blast of red light that shot towards the two digimon and their digidestined partners. _

_ "Look out!" Sora shouted as she and Garudamon quickly flew in front of them. The red beams of light tore through the redheaded girl and her bird-woman partner. _

_ "Sora!" Tai shouted._

_ "No…no!" Matt screamed._

_ Sora weakly smiled as she stared at them. "T..T..Tai," she said, "You saved me from Datamon…n..n..now we're even…T..Tai, I l..l..love you…" Her eyes slowly shut and her lifeless body floated in the darkness._

_ "Sora!" Tai shouted, "Sora, no!"_

_ "Oh, Sora," Matt cried, "Sora…"_

_ Mimi was crying and Izzy and Joe were floating beside her. They were too absorbed in the horror that had just occurred to notice Apocalymon's attack heading towards them. Tai could only stare at Sora's body, but Matt noticed the screams of their friends and saw their lifeless bodies. "Izzy, Mimi, Joe!" he screamed, "No…No!"_

_ Apocalymon laughed. "Now that they're out of the way, you're next!"_

_ Tai held Sora's body as tight as he could before finally releasing her. He stared up at Apocalymon with hate covering the tears dripping from his eyes. "Apocalymon!" he screamed, "You are going to pay for this!"_

_ "Ha!" the evil digimon laughed, "Do you really expect me to be frightened of you? Ha ha ha!"_

_ Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon leapt in front of their partners. Apocalymon continued to laugh. "You still won't stop me! And once I…I…" He trailed off as he stared at a spot in the distance. "The exit!" he shouted._

_ "What's he talking about?" Metalgarurumon asked._

_ "I don't know," Wargreymon replied, "What exit?"_

_ "The exit to this world!" he shouted, "Finally, I shall be free once more!" He used two of his claws to smack Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon out of the way as he shot past them. The two digimon stared as the massive Apocalymon flew towards a glowing rip in the darkness and disappeared into it._

_ "He's gone back to the Digital World!" Wargreymon exclaimed, "Tai, we've got to go after him. T..Tai?"_

_ "Matt?" Metalgarurumon asked. _

_ Both of their partners did not reply as they could only stare at their friend's bodies. "We have to go," Matt said, gently placing his hand on Tai's shoulder. The goggle-wearer continued to stare at Sora's lifeless body. _

_ "Yes, to make him pay!"_

_ Both humans grabbed a hold of their partners and quickly flew after Apocalymon. They glanced over their shoulders at the bodies of their friends, but knew that it was no use crying for them, they were dead._

_ Above them, Kari, Tk and their partners felt themselves being pulled after Tai and Matt. Eventually they passed through the exit gate and arrived in a massive desert. "I don't remember this at all," Kari said._

_ "Maybe it's a repressed memory," Tk suggested, "You know, like after we fought each other, how we kept remembering parts of our past lives? This memory must have just taken a long time to get to the surface."_

_ "Maybe," Kari said. She stared at the desert below, focusing on Tai, Matt and their digimon partners, who were hovering around nervously. Suddenly, two claws erupted from the ground, almost hitting Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon._

_ "You fools!" Apocalymon shouted, exploding from the sand, "You could have lived if you had stayed behind."_

_ "You're going to pay for what you did to our friends!" Tai shouted, "I'll kill you for what you did to Sora!"_

_ "Get him, Metalgarurumon!" Matt screamed, "Tear him apart!"_

_ Wargreymon lifted up his hands and formed a glowing ball of energy between them. "Terra Force!"_

_ Metalgarurumon pulled his head back, then shot it forward as a stream of blue energy blasted forth, "Metal Wolf Claw!"_

_ The two attacks combined together and smashed into Apocalymon, throwing him towards the ground. The entire desert shook in a giant tremor as the explosion threw a geyser of sand straight into the night sky. The sand that was not thrown aside from the mighty eruption, created a ripple effect in the desert surface, shooting outward in a wave motion When the explosion finally died down, there was not a sound in the entire desert_

_Tai glanced at his companions "Did we win?"_

_Matt shook his head slowly "I don't have any idea! I don't see anything, maybe he was vaporized?" _

_"He couldn't stand up against us!" Matt's partner, Metalgarurumon growled in delight_

_The two boys suddenly heard Wargreymon scream at the top of his lungs "Watch out! Behind you!"_

_Tai and Matt spun around in time to watch as a massive figure, cloaked in darkness, exploded from underneath the desert sands. "You cannot defeat me!" Apocalymon screamed in delight," I am invincible!" He shot two of his claws into Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon._

_ "Reverse Digivolve!"_

_ The two mega digimon were covered by a dark light, and forced to return to their Rookie forms once more._

_ "We're not going to be able to beat him," Matt sighed._

_ "No!" Tai shouted, "I'm not going to give up! I refuse to let this monster continue to live! He has to pay for what he did, his evil can't be allowed to roam free. For the crimes you've committed, the light of justice will destroy you!"_

_ "You're right," Matt said, "I can't give up. Hope can't die!"_

_ Suddenly, a bright light exploded from their chests. "Our crests?" Both humans stared at the glowing pendants around their necks. These crests began to twist and change, until two new crests were in their place. _

_ "New crests?" Matt asked._

_ "And more power!" Tai grinned, "Agumon!"_

_ Matt nodded. "Gabumon!"_

_ "Agumon warp digivolve to…"_

_ "Gabumon warp digivolve to…"_

_ "Alforce V-dramon!"_

_ "Anubimon!"_

_ Alforce V-dramon was human type wearing massive blue armor and had two dragon wings on his back, while Anubimon had a human type body, a dog's head and two large angel type wings fluttering behind him. _

_ "New evolutions," Tai said in awe._

_ "Amazing," Matt added._

_ "I am not impressed!" Apocalymon shouted. He swung his claws at the two digimon, but they easily moved out of the way this time. Apocalymon growled._

_ "Anyone can get luck once, take this, Virus Grenade!" He began firing a barrage of object from his cube body at the two digimon. _

_A glowing sword emerged from Alforce V-dramon's wrist, based armor. "Alforce Saber!" He began to quickly slash and cut each Virus Grenade that came towards him. _

_Anibumon had a less graceful manner. He place his hands in a triangle shape before his face and fired a triangle-shaped beam, that destroyed any grenades in its path. "Pyramid Power!"_

_ Apocalymon was not about to give up yet. One of his claws twisted and changed to become a metal dragon with two cannons on his back. "Machinedramon's attack, Giga Cannon!" _

_Alforce V-dramon simply used his sword to deflect the attack. _

_ Apocalymon twisted another one of his claws. "Piedmon! Trump Sword!"_

_ Anubimon shot out of the way with simply ease._

_ "No!" Apocalymon shouted, "No!"_

_ "That's it!" Matt shouted._

_ "You're through!" Tai screamed._

_ Alforce V-dramon pointed his other wrist at Apocalymon and fired a beam of bright light. "Shinning V-force!"_

_ Anubimon placed his hands together in a triangle shape. "Pyramid Power!"_

_ Both attacks combined together and tore through Apocalymon's chest. The evil digimon finally fell to the desert sands, defeated. _

_ "We did it!" Tai cheered, "Alforce V-dramon, you're the best!"_

_ "You too, Anubimon," Matt grinned._

_ "Ha!" Apocalymon laughed, "You did it, you beat me, but here's something I need to tell you. I'm a bit of a sore loser!" Two of his remaining claws ripped up through the desert behind Tai and Matt. Their two partners jumped in the way, but these claws would not be stopped. They shot through Alforce V-dramon and Anubimon, deleting them before ripping through the chests of Tai and Matt. Apocalymon's laughter filled the air as his body was slowly deleted._

_ "I will not be stopped!" he laughed, "You have defeated me, but my data will return, in a new form, a new body. I will return, as I have so many times before! You will not stop me! Hahaha!" His laughter echoed long after his body had vanished. _

_ Tai and Matt stared at each other, trying to stop the massive bleeding from their missing chests. They would have spoken to each other, but there was not time. They soon fell lifelessly to the ground. The last two Digidestineds were dead._

_ Above them, Kari and Tk stared with open eyes and open mouths. Both of them were suddenly separated, following their past selves as they exited the Digital World and returned to Earth._

_ Kari watched as Tai's spirit flowed from his desktop computer and over to the living room, where his mother and father were hugging each other on the coach. "He's gone," Mrs. Kamiya cried, "I..I can just feel it, Taichi's dead." She sobbed loudly._

_ "I'm sure he's fine," Mr. Kamiya said, but his face betrayed his statement._

_ Tai's spiritual form began to cry. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you." He suddenly moved towards his mother's stomach. "Mom, you're..you're pregnant. How did I even know that? It's like...I'm being called towards it."_

_ He looked up at the expressions on his parent's faces. "I won't leave you. I'll stay by you." He took a deep breath, completely instinctive now, and merged with the growing fetus inside of his mother's womb._

_ Tk was in another part of the city, where his parents were staring up at the morning sky. "Yamato," his mother cried, "Where are you? Why didn't you come back to us yet?"_

_ Matt's spiritual form hovered before his mother. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for making you worry, I'm sorry." He frowned even more, "I just wish I could tell you."_

_ He went to hug his mother, but stopped. Something from his mother's body was calling to him. He followed the feeling until he reached his mother's mid-section. "A baby?" he asked, "You're pregnant! I..I wonder if I can…" He slowly entered his mother's womb, merging with the fetus inside._

_"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

_ Takato soon found himself hovering inside of a subway car, with a group of beings seated below him._

_ "I don't believe this," Takato gasped._

_ "It's us!" Guilmon cried, "When we were taking that Jeri/D-reaper thing to her home!"_

_ "Shh!" Takato said._

_Down below, the child Takato looked over at his fellow passenger. "Jeri, you haven't eaten anything. Aren't you hungry?"_

_ He waited for a response, but when he received none, he continued speaking, "Well, guess not." He took a deep breath. "You know Jeri, I've always wanted to tell you, you're the nicest girl I've ever met. I mean, you always talked to me when no one else would. And it might sound silly but I always imagined that you might kinda like me the way.." he slowed down, "the way...I…like…you." _

_He quickly blurted out, "I mean, it's not like I think about you all the time, because I do!" He sighed. "Jeeze, this is hard. What I'm trying to say, more then just a friend, Jeri, is that I like you. I really do."_

_ 'Jeri' gave a strange reply. Takato stood up and slowly walked down the isle. "I hate seeing you this way. I was so happy, you were a Tamer and got to come to the Digital World with us….but then Leomon died, and you became so sad. I thought if I brought you back to the real world you'd be yourself again. Now you just sit there, not saying or doing anything. I keep thinking how much is my fault, that if I never brought you to the Digital World, you'd still be happy, but you're not. I'm sorry Jeri, sorry you had to go through all that, that I couldn't help save Leomon. I just wish you would talk to me!"_

_ He buried his head into his hands and began to weep._

_ Hovering in the sky, the young adult Takato and Guilmon watched as the scene started to change to teenage Takato and Guilmon, standing with Rika, Henry and their digimon partners, facing the four Sovereigns. _

_ "It is the only way," Azulongmon said, "We cannot defeat D-reaper."_

_ "But what will happen to Jeri?" Takato asked, "She's still inside of that thing!"_

_ "Takato, I understand how you feel," Henry said, "I don't want to do it either, but it might be the only way."_

_ "And we don't even know that Jeri's still alive," Rika said._

_ "You're wrong!" Takato shouted, "You're wrong!"_

_ "Takato," Azulongmon said, "We cannot stop D-reaper, the only chance we have to survive is the seal it away."_

_ Takato hesitated, then closed his eyes and turned his head away. "Then do it! Just do it!"_

_ Above them, the young adult Takato sighed deeply. "This was the day that I turned my back on Jeri. I knew she was alive inside of D-reaper, but I still let them seal it away. I should have tried harder."_

_ "You knew that we couldn't beat D-reaper," Guilmon said, "It was the only way."_

_ "I should have tried harder!" he said, "And now Jeri's back. I won't turn my back on her again!"_

_"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'_

_ Tatum was hovering above a section of Tokyo, watching as the Tamers ran across the bridge to meet a blond haired girl and a giant dog. "That's me!" she gasped, "When I was __Alice__!"_

_ Betamon stared at the blond haired girl. "That's what you used to look like? No offense, but I think I prefer you now."_

_Alice__ stared at the other three young teenagers. "You're the Tamers. We've been searching for you."_

_ Takato nodded. "That'd be us. Do we know you?"_

_ "I know you."_

_ Rika huffed. "How 'bout a little more info there Blondie?"_

_ The large canine standing beside her growled. "Are these children the ones I seek?"_

_ "I think so," __Alice__ said, "I wish they weren't."_

_ Henry stepped forward. "Ah, your partner looks a little tense."_

_ "Dobermon has been hunted mercilessly since arriving in the Real World." She gave a weak smile, "It wants to stop his quest."_

_ "Okay," Rika said, "What's his quest?"_

_ "To deliver a message," Dobermon said._

_ "A message?" Takato asked, "From who?"_

_ Before Dobermon could answer, the D-reaper began to attack. The Tamer digimon quickly evolved to their Ultimate levels, but it was still not enough. "We need to bio-merge!"_

_ "We're not data," Henry said, "There's no way to bio-merge."_

_ "Yes, there is," __Alice__ slowly said, "That's why I'm here, that's why I brought him."_

_ "Dobermon?" Takato asked, "What do you mean?"_

_ "That is my quest. I was sent by the Sovereigns to help you." He gently nuzzled Dobermon. "Thank you, __Alice__, but you know what I must do. I'll never forget what you've done, for all of us."_

_ Tatum and Betamon were suddenly transported to another area, the Digidestined's battle with Myotismon atop the television station. Matt was standing directly before Myotismon, while the rest of the Digidestined, including Alice, stood around him. Myotismon swung open his hands as a wave of bats shot towards the goggle-wearing leader. "Grisly Wing!"_

_ Matt and Gabumon stared with horror in their eyes, which grew even more as __Alice__ jumped in front of them and was torn apart by the insidious bats. "Next time," Myotismon growled, "Don't get in my way!"_

_ "Oh no, __Alice__!" Matt shouted, kneeling down beside her. The blond girl slowly opened her eyes._

_ "Matt, are you okay?" she asked, in a very weak voice._

_ "You saved me," he said, dropping his eyes, "I'm sorry."_

_ "For what?"_

_ "Sorry I got you involved in this."_

_Alice__ smiled. "I was involved before you. And I don't have any regrets. I'm glad I met all of you, so much. Thank you." She closed her eyes for the final time._

_ Above them, Tatum and Betamon stared in shock. "I thought you said you died with the others?" the digimon asked._

_ "I..I thought I did," she gasped, "But I never really remembered! I..I don't know what to say…"_

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

_Yolei, Catherine and their partners found themselves hovering above a group of teenagers that they instantly recognized. "Zat iz uz!" Catherine exclaimed, "Right after we beat Metalseadramon."_

_ "Yeah," Yolei said, "W..what's going on here?"_

_ "Maybe we're remembering this?" Hawkmon suggested, "But Kari did say something about the Key Cards acting weird."_

_ The group remained silent as they heard shouts from below. "Let's get going," Tai ordered._

_ "Wait," Mimi said, "We're not through here yet."_

_ Tai turned to stare at her. She was making odd mounds in the dirt. "Mimi, what are you doing?_

_ Matt glared at him. "In case you hadn't noticed, some of our friends are gone."_

_ "Oh, sorry."_

_ Mimi stood up and pointed to the small mounds, which now had crosses pushed into the top. "That one there is for __Alice__, that one is for Pixiemon, the one next to it is for Chuumon, and that one is to remember Whamon."_

_ Sora walked over to her and smiled motherly. "Mimi, they're not dead, it's like they were downloaded to a different computer."_

_ Tai growled. "What better reason to get the Dark Masters, payback for making our friends leave!"_

_ "I'm not going!" Mimi announced, "Every time we fight we end up losing another friend."_

_ "This is war, Mimi!" Tai shouted, "Sometimes our friends get hurt, so deal with it!"_

_ "Stop it, Tai!" she shouted, clamping her hands over her ears._

_ "Leave her alone Tai!" Matt shouted, "Why don't you think of someone else's feelings for once! Not everyone has ice running through their veins like you do!"_

_ "Stop it, all of you!" Sora shouted, "Let's just keep going and remember that we're all friends here."_

_ Above them, Catherine and Yolei turned to each other. "I remember this all right," Yolei said._

_ "I az well," Catherine said. She sighed. "I don't mean to sound mean, but I t'ink being reborn as a girl haz helped him wit' hiz anger." She smiled slightly at Yolei. "Je suis désolé"_

_ Yolei shrugged. "It's okay. It's strange but, I…I really don't fell the same way towards Kari as I did before." She sighed, "I'm so confused, and I need to figure out why." _

_ The world quickly changed around them, to a scene of the Digidestined sleeping near a large tree in the forest that must have taken place after defeating Metalseadramon but before encountering Puppetmon. Sora and Mimi were standing a short distance from the sleeping preteens._

_ "What did you want to talk to me about?" Mimi asked._

_ Sora sighed. "Mimi, I need to tell this to someone and since you're the only other human girl here…"_

_ Mimi smiled, eager to hear some gossip. "What?"_

_ Sora took a deep breath. "I..I'm in love with Tai."_

_ "You're in love with Tai?" she grinned, "Oh come on Sora, everybody knows that." She hugged her, "Still, I'm glad you told me first."_

_ "You know Mimi," Sora said, "We're almost complete opposites, aren't we? You're the type of girl that I would never have wanted to be friends with. To tell you the truth, I'd rather hang you with boys instead of other girls."_

_ Mimi frowned. "Yeah, well I usually don't like girls that kinda act like boys. But you're a really nice person."_

_ "So are you, even if you're a little ditzy sometimes."_

_ The two girls hugged each other tightly. "I'm glad we're friends," Mimi said._

_ "Me two," Sora nodded._

_ Above them, Yolei and Catherine hovered over the scene. They slowly turned to towards each other. "We were best friends, weren't we?" Catherine said._

_ "Yeah," she said, "We were. I think maybe, we could be again?"_

_ The blond girl grinned. "Oui."_

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

_ Hiroshi and Penmon found themselves floating above a fierce battle occurring on a mountain top. "Where are we?" the digimon asked._

_ "I have no idea," Hiroshi responded, "The Key Cards sent us here somehow."_

_ His partner gasped, "Look!"_

_ The human glanced down and gasped as well. He saw Oikawa and Blackwargreymon standing amidst the bodies. They were facing a ten-year-old boy with a strange creature hovering behind them. "Is that us?"_

_ "That's defiantly you," Penmon said, "But if that digimon is me, then I don't remember it at all."_

_ "Memory manipulation," he muttered, "That's what Oikawa said happened to us."_

_ Below them, the ten-year-old Hiroshi and his mysterious digimon faced Oikawa and Blackwargreymon. The adult laughed. "So, the traitors sent a child to stop me? They are either very stupid, or have tremendous faith in you."_

_ The ten-year-old Hiroshi did not answer. He mentioned to his mysterious digimon, who shot over the young boy's head and started to battle Blackwargreymon. The two digimon battled for what seemed like an eternity before Blackwargreymon finally fell. _

_ Oikawa and his defeated partner stared up at the young boy, who now seemed larger then life. A Chinese man and woman soon appeared beside the ten-year-old boy. "Cho Hung!" Oikawa screamed, "You are the leader of the rebellion against me?"_

_ "That is correct," the older man answered, "And you have been defeated. Now leave!"_

_ "I defeated Oikawa," the sixteen-year-old Hiroshi said, "Just like he said. It was true, all of it! True."_

_"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

_ Myotismon found himself hovering over what appeared to be a trial. Yes, he knew exactly what it was, he had seen it many times before in his nightmares. The trial 'participants," were Venommyotismon, Ryo and Gennai. The vampire lord was standing with his arms tied behind his back and he also had a metal mask clamped over his mouth._

_ "Venommyotismon," Gennai said, "For the crimes you have committed, I sentence you to be exiled behind the protective seal of the Destiny Stones!"_

_ "You can't!" Venommyotismon shouted, "No one knows what exists there!"_

_ "Yes we can!" Ryo shouted, "You have committed heinous crimes! The Digidestineds defeated you, but you still returned! You must be placed where you will never harm anyone again!"_

_ Above them, the present-day Myotismon stared with hate. "I must make them pay for trapping me behind the seal for sixteen years! They will all pay!"_

_""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

_ Oikawa was staring down at a scene from his past as well, one he remembered quiet clearly. He saw himself as a younger man, talking to someone he once considered a great man, and a greater research partner._

_ "Dr. McCoy," Oikawa said, "I understand that you want to find a way into the Digital World to find your father, but can't you see the possible benefits of mapping out this world?"_

_ The blond man shook his head. "Yukio, if there is a world that was entirely created from our internet, then I think it would be better to keep it silent. Who knows what kind of creatures populate this world. I only want to find my father, if only so my daughter can know him."_

_ "I think __Alice__ would benefit more from having a father that was the discoverer of an entire world!"_

_ McCoy raised his hand. "I won't talk about this anymore!"_

_ The scene started to change, turning to one of Oikawa facing Phantomon. He pointed his finger at the ghost. "I may have lost my Dark SEED organization, but you have lost your leader as well. I can survive on my own, can you?"_

_ Phantomon laughed, "Myotismon may have been defeated by the Digidestined, but now we have a new God of Darkness. He and his unholy warriors will help us to regain our former position as the rulers of this world! They are going to revive the fallen god!"_

_ "No!" Oikawa shouted, "You cannot bring him back! Do you know the power he represents?"_

_ "Yes we do," Phantomon laughed, "And you and everyone will be destroyed by the darkness!"_

_"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

When the strange light finally faded, Kari was standing in a hallway, alone except for loyal Salamon. "Hey, w..where are we?"

Salamon frowned. "Why are we by ourselves?"

"I don't know," she said, "Maybe when the Key Cards and D-reaper combined, they sent us away from the others." She sighed, "I really wish Ken was here, I bet _he'd_ know."

The rookie digimon looked over at the walls. "Kari, look! That red stuff, it's everywhere!"

Kari walked over and lightly touched the red substance. It was squishy, and pulsed as if it was alive. She did notice that it was moving. "It's slithering across the wall," she said, "So if it's moving from that one place, then if we just follow it backwards, we should get back to the room."

Her partner nodded. "Sounds good to me."

They started running. Once they rounded a corner they ran straight into Takato and Guilmon. "Are you two okay?" the Tamer asked, "What happened to us?"

"I think the Key Cards had something to do with it," Kari smiled slightly. She quickly told him her plan, and they soon began to run once again.

_"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""_

"Where is everyone?" Tk asked, walking through the red mass of the D-reaper.

"We all got separated," Patamon frowned, "I guess we should try to find everyone."

The blond boy agreed and they ran through the halls until Patamon started to become tense. "What's wrong?" Tk asked.

"Someone's coming, strong and powerful!"

Tk was about to ask for more information, when Dragomon ripped through the red mass of the D-reaper. Both the human and the squid digimon stared at one another. "You!" they both shouted.

Dragomon gripped his trident. "I think you owe me a rematch you little punk!"

Tk grabbed his digivice. "Fine!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon! Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon! Magna Angemon digivolve to Goldramon!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Hiroshi and Penmon were charging through the halls as fast as they could. "Where the hell is everybody?"

Penmon was about to respond, when he suddenly jumped at his partner's back, tackling him to the ground, seconds before a black figure shot over head. "Watch out!"

Hiroshi stared at the invading figure. "Blackwargreymon? That means that…" He jumped back onto his feet and spun around, seeing Oikawa standing before him.

"You! What are you doing here?"

"What do you think!"

Hiroshi growled at him. "So, what you said was true, isn't it? I was some kind of...lab rat for you, one that bit you in the ass in the end, huh?"

He smiled. "But I've noticed that your digimon isn't the same as he once way. I'm taking you out, once and for all!" he shouted, "You Digidestined ruined my plans for controlling D-reaper! I'm not going to allow you to stop me from _regaining_ control of this ultimate weapon! Prepare to die!"

Hiroshi grabbed his digivice. "Ready, Penmon?"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon! Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon! Megaseadramon digivolve to Gigaseadramon!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Outside, the three hours were up and Davis's small group was standing before the entrance to the Sovereign Castle, which was almost completely covered by red mass. Tendrils of red shot out of the windows and through the brick walls. "What the heck is that thing?"

"D-reaper," Henry said, "I'd recognize it anywhere."

"Well, what do we do now?" Davis asked.

"We need to get inside," Rika said, "And that means blasting our way through."

"Sounds good to me," Davis said, "Veemon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon! Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

Henry and Rika both glanced at their partners. "Go." They slid their blue cards across the side of their D-arcs. "Digi-modify! Matrix digivolution activate!"

"Terriermon matrix digivolve to Rapidmon!"

"Renamon matrix digivolve to Taomon!"

The three ultimate digimon quickly fired their most power attacks and blew away the red mass covering the main door to the castle. What remained was a hallway covered by the same red mass.

Davis nodded. "Let's go."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Pyro Blaster!"

"Lightning Paw!"

The two attacks together destroyed the door to the main control room, and when Takato and Kari ran inside, they saw what they expected to see, the entire room covered with the red mass, except for the detonation equipment. In the center of the room, connected to the red mass through her back, was Jeri.

"Jeri!" Takato shouted.

"You shouldn't be here," she said, almost without emotion, "I tried to push you out of the castle, why are you still here?"

"Because you're here," Takato said.

"What are you going to do?" Kari asked.

"I am going to destroy D-reaper," she said, "Oikawa was right, an explosion will destroy D-reaper, but only from the inside. The detonation has to destroy D-reaper's Kernel of Intelligence…_me_."

"You?"

"That is right. D-reaper and I are connected, but D-reaper is weak from being imprisoned for sixteen years. It would do anything to keep me from being harmed, but _I_ am in control now, I won't let it save me. If I die, D-reaper dies. You must leave."

She grunted, almost in pain. The portions of the D-reaper that were oozing outside of the castle suddenly fired two blast of energy in opposite directions. One smashed into the Tower of Zhuqioamon, and the other impacted the Tower of Azulongmon. Both mighty structures collapsed to the ground.

"I have destroyed the remaining towers," she said, "The seal around the Dark Ocean has been broken .The gates you used to get here are open once again. Please leave."

"I'm not leaving without you!" Takato shouted.

Jeri ignored him and glanced at the detonation equipment. A red tendril ripped out of her back and merged with the machine. It started to hum and beep as a set of numbers appeared on its digital display: 1:00:00, and began to count backwards.

"You have one hour," she said, "Then you must…" She frowned.

"What?" Gatomon asked.

"He is coming here," she said, "I won't allow him to." Her eyes shot open and the red mass began to shake.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_50: 59_

Myotismon leapt into the air to avoid being struck by a red tentacle. "I do not know what manner of being you are," she said, "But I will not allow you to stop me Crimson Lighting!"

Two red beams of light snaked out from his hands. He whipped them into the invading red tendrils, smashing them into red blobs of data. He could sense that two more were heading towards him from behind. He twisted around, firing a large group of bats from his hands. "Grisly Wing!" The red tentacles of the D-reaper were gone.

"Now, I must not be stopped on my mission!" he growled. He continued to walk until he passed a set of double doors, not yet surrounded by the D-reaper. "I wonder what is in here? Grisly Wing!"

The night raid of bats ripped open the door. The vampire digimon walked inside another room filled with computer equipment. He walked over to what he surmised to be the main console, which had a computer screen, displaying a line of computer code.

"What have we here? Energy suppression field? I think this is exactly what I came looking for." He type in a new set of commands and pressed enter.

Outside, in the marshes of the Dark Ocean, the _Boreas_ still remained motionless. Inside the bridge, Ken, and the other Digidestined were lazily sitting around when the computer equipment suddenly began to activate. The computer consoles booted up and the overhead lights flickered to life.

Cody and Derek glanced at each other, while Ken twisted around in his pilot's seat. "Power's back!" he exclaimed.

"Get you get us airborne?" Yuehon asked.

"I'm going to try," he said. He started to take off procedures. Outside the ship, the helicopter propellers began to spin with enough strength to lift the ship off the ground. The engine turbines fired and the ship shot forward.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_45: 00_

Gigaseadramon leapt into the air to avoid being cut into pieces by Blackwargreymon's impressive claws. The serpent flicked his tail quickly, sending gray waves at the dinosaur digimon. "Sky Wave!" The dramon destroyer batted the serpent's attack away with a flick of his black gauntlets. He was not fazed in the least, as he quickly shot at Gigaseadramon's body.

"Look out!" Hiroshi shouted.

The dragon twisted into a circle, and Blackwargreymon shot through it, leaving Gigaseadramon harm free. While the dinosaur digimon was facing the other direction, the serpent flipped his tail around and smacked it into Blackwargreymon's back.

"Do not lose, do you hear me?" Oikawa snarled.

"Don't let those claws touch you," Hiroshi warned, "Be careful."

In another portion of the castle, Goldramon and Dragomon continued to battle. "You lied to me, you tricked me!" the squid shouted, "I will never forgive you for that!"

"Forgive me?" Goldramon asked, "I never asked you to forgive me?"

"Besides which," Tk said, "Why would we even care?"

Dragomon spun his trident around in such a quick fashion that it sent the bronze digimon falling over onto his back."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_40:55_

Inside of the main room, Jeri suddenly lifted her head. "They're losing."

"Losing?" Kari asked, "Who?"

"They must leave," Jeri said, completely ignoring them, "I will stop them."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_30:00_

As Blackwargreymon and Gigaseadramon continued to battle, they did not notice that the red mass covering the wall had begun to move. The red organism suddenly extended groups of tentacles that shot towards the evil digimon and wrapped around his body, keeping him from moving.

"What's going on?" Oikawa demanded.

Hiroshi did not know, nor did he particularly care. "Gigaseadramon, now's your chance!"

The serpent digimon pulled his head back, but shot it forward, sending out a ball of blue light. "Giga Sea Destroyer!"

The beam of intense aquatic energy engulfed Blackwargreymon, before heading directly towards Oikawa. The human screamed loudly as his body was completely blown apart. "Tough break," Hiroshi grinned, "Looks like I win again."

"Oh man," Gigaseadramon said, landing on the ground, "I think I'm beat." He shot his head up as he heard the sound of energy being collected. He pushed Hiroshi to the ground seconds before part of the red-mass covered hallway was blown apart. He stared up at the hole, bracing for another battle, but breathed with a sigh of relief when he saw familiar faces standing on the other side.

"Motomiya!" Hiroshi gasped, "W..what are you doing.."

"It's been three hours," he said, tapping his watch, "Remember?"

He stood up and dusted off his clothes. "Forget that. We've got to find the others, quickly!"

_15:00_

As the countdown continued, Goldramon and Dragomon continued to battle. The squid pointed his three-pronged staff at the dragon digimon. "Forbidden Trident!" Each one of the points fired a bolt of black lightning into Goldramon, causing him to skid backwards, growling in pain.

"You through, do you hear me!" Dragomon shouted, almost to the point of insanity, "I'll kill you!"

Suddenly, without warning, parts of the D-reaper attacked him, wrapping around his arms and legs, keeping him from moving. "What's going on?" Tk asked.

"I don't know," Goldramon answered, "But I've got a clear shot now! This ends, Dragomon, right here and now!" He opened his mouth and bright bronze flames erupted from his mouth. "Gold Flame!"

As opposed to Blackwargreymon and Oikawa, Dragomon screamed like an infant as his body dissolved before his eyes.

Goldramon floated to the ground and regressed back to Patamon. "Let's get out of here!" the human ordered.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

_13:50_

Jeri looked over at the two humans. "You only have ten minutes left," she said, still almost completely unemotionally, "You need to leave at once."

"I can't leave without you," Takato said, stepping closer."

"Your friends have already defeated Oikawa and Dragomon," she responded, "There is no longer any reason for you to be here."

"But what about you?" Kari asked, "Come on, you need to come with us."

"I will _not_ allow D-reaper to continue to live," she said.

"And I can't continue to live without you," Takato said. He and Guilmon slowly walked towards Jeri. The young girl stared at him.

"T..T..Takato?" she asked, her voice finally quivering with emotion once more.

Kari glanced over at the clock. "Ten minutes!" she shouted.

Takato continued to stare into Jeri's eyes. "I have spent the past sixteen years living without you, and now you're here, once again. I can't live without Jeri, I love you too much."

"Takato!" she cried, hugging him tightly. Their heads moved towards each other, but Kari and Gatomon were suddenly pushed out of the room by a tremendous wave or red matter.

"Takato!" Kari shouted, pounding at the red mass that now covered the doorway, "Takato!" She took a deep breath, grabbed Gatomon, and began to run down the hall.

"Kari?" the white digimon asked.

"We've got to get out of here!"

As the brown-haired girl continued to run through the D-reaper covered halls, she passed by the rest of her group. "Kari?" Davis asked.

"We've got to get out of here!" she shouted, "The entire place is going to explode!"

"What about Takato?" Rika gasped.

"Takato's _not_ coming! We've got to go, now! We've got less then ten minutes!"

The others hesitated for a moment before charging after the brown-haired girl. Most of the hallways had already been covered with the red mass of the D-reaper, and rather then waste time fighting against it, they simply ran down whatever hallway they could. Davis came to a short stop, wildly swinging his arms in circles to keep himself from falling. The hall had come to an abrupt end with a doorway that opening to the outside, in the middle of the castle. When Davis final got control of his momentum and stopped from falling, he looked down. "Wow," he said, "That's at least a couple of miles straight down. We'd never survive."

"Yeah," Kari sighed, "But the castle is going to blow in less then five minutes."

"Now what do we do?" Yolei asked.

The group suddenly felt a powerful blast of wind, but they could make out a voice carrying over the wind, "Ahoy!"

"Armadillomon?" Veemon asked.

"Look!" Floramon shouted.

The group stared in awe as the _Boreas_ quickly lowered itself from the upper sky. The twin doors were open, with Cody and Armadillomon standing inside, waving at them. Kari grinned. "Get in, hurry!"

Each member of the group jumped through the doors before they closed. The ship twisted around as fast as it could, pointing its massive jets towards the castle. They did not notice Myotismon, disguised as a bat, fly up from the opening in the castle and sneak inside through one of the porthole-shaped windows.

"Ken!" Kari shouted, running into the bridge, "Get us out of here!"

Ken nodded from his pilot's seat and pushed the throttle forward in a controlled manner, propelling the ship even faster as it shot away from the castle. There was a loud rumble, and the Sovereign Castle soon exploded in a mighty blast of smoke and light. The Tamers and the Digidestined watched through the glass windows littering the side of the ship.

"That's it," Henry said, "He's really gone."

Kari sighed. "He really loved her, huh?"

"Yes, he did," Rika said, "He really wasn't ever happy, you know, when he wasn't with her. He must have been in so much pain, for sixteen years."

"But they're together now," Renamon commented.

"Yeah," Rika smiled, "They are."

Henry took a deep breath. "Well, I guess our mission's over then. The Digital Gate we used to get here is inside of a cave."

The _Boreas_ soon landed near a collection of dark mountains, directly in front of a massive cave. The Digidestined stood outside to bid farewell to their friends.

Henry smiled slightly. "It feels like we've known you for years."

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Kari said.

Rika and Catherine stared at one another. "I'm sorry that you lost Jeri once again," the blond girl said.

Rika nodded. "Thank you. It hurt even more the first time, but knowing that she and Takato are together…" She smiled slightly, "It doesn't hurt as much." She sighed, but still retained her smile, "But it hurts when I think that I won't see you again."

Catherine reached over and hugged her. "_Au revoir mon ami._"

"Ditto," the orange haired girl said, "I'm going to miss you."

Renamon gently placed her paw on Rika's shoulder. "It's time."

Henry, Terriermon, Rika and Renamon said their final goodbyes and entered the cave, disappearing into the Digital Gate hidden inside. The _Boreas_ was soon flying through the sky once again.

"We're heading towards the Digital Gate that will take us back home," Ken said.

Kari nodded as she looked at the Dark Ocean. "This was once the home world of the Sovereigns, its amazing how even the place you think would be the most _un-_corruptible, would turn out like this. What does that say about the way of the world, huh?" She shook her head and smiled, "But, finally, we're going home!" The airship entered the hovering the Digital Gate and vanished from the Dark Ocean.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Chess-player lifted his head. "So, they're coming back?"

The Woman in Red nodded. "Yes sir. Our sensors indicate that the Digidestined have passed through the Digital Gate to the Dark Ocean."

"So, they will no doubt attempt to stop us. We can't let them, not when we're so close. We must prepare for them." He gently lifted his finger, "The first time they oppose us, we will reveal ourselves to them. Alert the others."

The Woman in Red nodded once again and turned to leave the throne room. The Chess-player, the God of Darkness, called out to her.

"Oh, and Sora, I trust you to handle them."

She nodded. "Yes, Lord Taichi. I will not fail you."

_Preview: _

_The Digidestined have finally escaped the __Dark__Ocean__. They return to the Digital World, only to discover that it is not as they left it. The Gods of the Cult of Darkness reveal themselves, and the lives of the Digidestined will never be the same again._

_Next: " Apocalypse: Masters of Evil!" The final battle begins."_

Author's note:

Comments on the flashback scenes. Kari and Tk remembered finally, for the first time, what really happened during the fight with Apocalymon, Myotismon's, and Takato's flashbacks just really expanded on their characters, and Oikawa and Tatum showed their new origins for this story. In chapter 16: DARK OCEAN: Entrance," Tatum talks about her father and his weird friend, well, as you can see, Oikawa was that friend.

And yes, the final arc begins, and I've still got a few surprises in store. I hope you enjoy, and please remember to review.


	24. APOCALYPSE: Masters of Evil

APOCALYPSE: Masters of Evil

The _Boreas _pushed its way through the last bit of interference from the Dark Ocean's portal and once again entered the true Digital World. The Digidestined aboard ran over to the large windows in order to see. However, as soon as they approached, their jaws drop open in awe and horror. "Ken," Kari said, "Are you sure this is the Digital World?"

"P...Positive," he said, quickly checking over the readouts from his console based computer, "We're in the right coordinates."

"But that can't be!" Yolei exclaimed, "This can't be the Digital World! It's so..so…"

"Dead," Hiroshi said.

Indeed. Where there were once lush forests, beautiful blue sky and impressive oceans, now only sat desert: dead, rotting lands. The water that should have surrounded the gate to the Dark Ocean was gone, replaced by a massive canyon. Even the sky seemed duller, darker, less full of life.

"What the hell happened?" Davis gasped, "How..how…?"

"Gennai," Kari said, "We've got to get to Gennai as fast as we can."

Cody noticed that one of the lights on his section of the computer console was starting to blink. "Hold on," he said. He began to enter commands on his computer screen. "We seem to be receiving an S.O.S. call."

"Is it close?" Tk asked.

"I think so," Cody said.

The blond boy turned to Kari. "What do you think?"

"We can't ignore others in trouble," she sighed, "All right Ken, take us there."

The _Boreas_ quickly changed directions and shot with tremendous speed towards a village that was near the ocean, or would have been had the ocean still been there. The Digidestined judged by the path that the massive canyon took that the ocean once flowed through the small town via a series of cannels and channels. There was a massive battle occurring within the boundaries of the former water town: dark digimon were attacking a large army of water-faring digimon.

"They're getting slaughter down there!" Veemon gasped.

"We've got to help them," Catherine said.

"How do we know which side is the right one?" Derek asked.

They continued to watch as one of the water digimon, a young Bukumon, was running to the safety of a group of Betamon, when a Bakemon appeared and rammed his claw through the In-training digimon, instantly deleting him.

"I'm guessing whatever side he _isn't_ on!" Davis growled, "Let's get down there!"

The double doors on the side of the air ship slid open and the digimon jumped out, all evolved to their Champion levels. They dove into the sea of dark digimon, which they could now see were mostly comprised of Bakemons and Vilemons. The forces of the Digidestined started tearing into the evil army, while the humans ran over to comfort the injured water digimon.

"Davis?" one asked in a raspy voice.

"Elder Betamon?" he asked, running over to the lone Betamon with a white beard.

"Davis," he smiled, "I'm so glad you came back to save us."

"Save you?" he asked, "From what?"

Elder Betamon gasped loudly and pointed over Davis's shoulder. "Her."

The goggle wearer turned around and gasped as well when he saw who was running into the city at full force. "Kyuubimon?" He started looking around, "Is Rika here?"

"Stop her!" Elder Betamon shouted, "She cannot get to the Destiny Stone!"

"Destiny Stone?" Hiroshi asked, "I thought that…" He trailed off.

"Gennai and Ryo told us that there's more Destiny Stones then the ones that were destroyed," Tk said, running over to join them, "But why does a Kyuubimon have you so scared?"

"That is no ordinary Kyuubimon," Elder Betamon said, "Be wary, she is more powerful then she appears."

"No sweat," Davis grinned, "We still got a few tricks of our own. Exveemon, show 'em!"

The blue dragon jumped into the air, ignoring the rest of the Bakemon that were attacking him. He eyed Kyuubimon and placed both of his arms over his chest, quickly pulling them apart as a bright beam of energy shot from the V on his chest. "XV Laser!"

The beam of energy smashed into Kyuubimon with incredible force, but the fox digimon remained unharmed.

"No way!" Exveemon gasped, "She should be on her side moaning right now."

"You're both at the same level," Tatum's Sand Yanmamon said, buzzing over, "Let me evolve and I'll take care of her."

"Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachiomon!"

The Ultimate dinosaur digimon opened his mouth and fired a stream of floating orbs. "Brachio Bubbles!"

His floating balls of water bounced harmlessly off of Kyuubimon.

"What the…?"

"You expect that to hurt her?" Seadramon laughed, "Your pathetic bubbles couldn't hurt a fly. Let me take care of it."

"Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon!"

He threw his head back and fired a mighty blast of lightning from the horn on his head. "Thunder Javelin!"

Once again, Kyuubimon remained unharmed.

"What's going on here?" Hiroshi gasped.

"I warned you," Elder Betamon said, "We must keep the location of the Destiny Stones hidden at all costs! Do not let her near it!"

"You hear the man," Exveemon said, "Let's go."

The three digimon charged as fast as they could towards the fox digimon. Kyuubimon stopped running and stared at them. She jumped into the air and started twirling as fast as she could, sending a white stream of energy into the air. "Dragon Wheel!"

All there digimon were enveloped by the light and sent smashing into the ground. The other digidestined digimon stopped their battle against the Bakemon and stared in horror at the fox digimon.

"She floored them with one attack?" Derek's Crabmon asked.

"She must be very powerful," Angemon said.

"Lord Hiroshi," Yuehon called, running over to him, "Are you..?"

"Fine!" he snapped, running away from her. She stared at him as he ran towards the others.

Kyuubimon continued running into the town. The tails on her back split into nine separate tails, each one firing a ball of fire into the Bakemon army. The ghosts were all deleted instantly.

"What was that about?" Ken asked, "Aren't they on the same side?"

"So I thought," Elder Betamon said, "But perhaps they were 'uneasy' partners. It doesn't matter. Don't let her near the Destiny Stone!"

The remaining Digidestined digimon leapt into battle. Kyuubimon executed her Dragon Wheel again once again, throwing Gatomon, Angemon, Stingmon, and the others to join Exveemon, Brachiomon and Megaseadramon. As they smacked into the ground, it caused a small tremor that knocked lose an area of lose dirt, revealing a bright blue light that exploded into the sky.

"No!" Elder Betamon shouted, "No! The Destiny Stone, don't let her..!"

Kyuubimon grinned wickedly when she saw the Destiny Stone. "Destroy. Destroy!"

Once again her tails separated into nine tails, each one firing a ball of white fire into the area surrounding the glowing blue light. More of the rock and dirt were blown away, revealing a giant glowing blue ball.

"A Destiny Stone?" Derek gasped.

Kyuubimon leapt into the air and started spinning around at an incredible rate. A glowing stream of white energy shot out of her body, slamming into the stone. "Dragon Wheel!"

"No!" Elder Betamon shouted, "No!"

The glowing Destiny Stone cracked and shattered, exploding apart in a shower of rock and debris. The Digidestined had to protect their eyes from the hailstorm. When they were able to see again, they saw that Kyuubimon was gone and so was the Destiny Stone.

"What just happened?"

"We lost, what does it look like?" Davis sighed. He turned to Elder Betamon. "What is going on here?"

The older Betamon sighed. "I could tell you, but maybe Gennai and Ryo could explain it better."

Kari nodded. "All right. We've got to get there anyway and give him Myotismon. Ken, can you let him know we're coming?"

He nodded, removing his D-terminal.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The _Boreas_ had trouble locating Gennai's house, as the lake surrounding it had disappeared, in fact, the only reason the Digidestined found it at all was because Ryo and the lord of the house himself were waiting on the shore with more then a dozen digimon or varying types.

The large airship landed and the double doors slid open, dropping a metal drawbridge onto the ground. Kari and Salamon ran out to greet them.

"Where's Myotismon?" Ryo shouted over the roar of the ship's engines.

"In the cargo hold!" she shouted back, "Ken will show you where!" Ryo and the group of digimon ran up the drawbridge to meet Ken.

"Where have you been?" Gennai shouted, "You've been gone for about a week! You just disappeared off the face of the Digital World!"

"A week!" she gasped, "That means that it's been two weeks since I was captured by Ladydevimon. My parents must be freaking out!"

Gennai nodded. "As soon as we get the other prisoners, I'll help send you home. Where are the Dark SEED leaders?"

Kari nodded. "Come on!"

Inside the depths of the ship, Ken opened the door to the cargo hold and displayed Myotismon, still inside of the containment cell. The vampire digimon grinned wickedly. "So, we're finally home?"

Ryo nodded at Andromon and Monzemon, who lifted easily lifted the containment cell and placed it on a wagon that was pulled by a Monochromon.

Up on the bridge, Gennai stared at Hiroshi and Yuehon. "Why are they walking around free?"

"They helped us," Kari protested.

Gennai stared at her. "Still, I'd prefer it if they…."

Yuehon glared at Kari. "You promised us…"

"Do it!" Hiroshi shouted. Yuehon flinched back and held out her wrists, on which Gennai placed two glowing rings. He did the same to Hiroshi, but placed one large ring on Candlemon and Penmon.

"Those are special deletion devices. One false move and you'll be deleted," he warned, "Just come with me."

Kari looked apologetically at Hiroshi. "I'll take care of it, I promise."

The Digidestined and Elder Betamon walked into Gennai's house, where he invited them to sit on the couch. They quickly told him about how they defeated Dark SEED, accidentally released Myotismon, and their entire adventure in the Dark Ocean.

"Interesting," Gennai said, "Very interesting."

"Now what's been going on here?" Tk asked, "What happened to the Digital World?"

Ryo sighed. "The Destiny Stones. Since they were destroyed, the Digital World has started to feel the repercussions."

"You see," Gennai said, standing up, "As I told Kari and Tk, the Digital World is kept in balance by four quadrants, the four directions of any map: North, South, East and West. Each one of these quadrants has their own guardian beast, Azulongmon the dragon to the East, Ebonwumon the turtle to the Noth, Zhuqioamon the phoenix to the South, and Baihumon the tiger to the West. Each one of these Holy Beasts adds their own special balance to the Digital World. Zhuqioamon keeps the sky in balance while Ebonwumon holds the sea, Baihumon keeps the Digital World's ground in check and Azulongmon watches over the very digimon themselves. So, there is a 'Control' Destiny Stone for each one. The other Destiny Stones I believe you know: Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Miracles and Spirit. Now, each Destiny Stone goes with a "Control" Stone. For Azulongmon's Control Stone: Courage, Friendship, and the Element Stone, Light. As long as the control stone is safe, the other stones should have been reformatted," He sighed deeply, "But then _she_ appeared out of no where, intent on destroying everything."

"Who?" Ken asked.

"The Kyuubimon you fought," Elder Betamon said.

"You already fought her?" Gennai gasped.

"Yes," Kari said, "And she destroyed a Destiny Stone."

"Ebonwumon's Destiny Stone? Oh no, oh no! Then everything is truly lost!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Cody asked.

"Ebonwumon's Destiny Stone in the Village of Aqua, was the last Destiny Stone," he said, "Now, they're all gone."

"All of them are gone?" Yolei asked, "W..what happens now?"

"The Digital World will continue to deteriorate until nothing is left," he explained, "And it is quite possible that there won't be any way to restore the Digital World. The only way to save it, would be to download it now, while we still have a chance."

"How do we do that?" Kari asked.

"The god of the center is called Huanglongmon," Gennai said, "He doesn't have a Destiny Stone; it's more like the hard drive on your computer. If we go there, we can download the basic program of the Digital World, then we'll be able to reinstall it."'

"Then let's go," Davis said.

"We will," Gennai said, "We still have some time left. I think you should see your families and assure them that you're okay before they really start to worry."

Kari sighed. "I should get back home to my parents. It seems like so long since I saw them."

"My Mom's probably worried too," Tk said.

"You need to see your families," Gennai said, "I will e-mail you the second anything else happens. Go."

They all agreed and exited through the Digital Gate.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'

Kari landed with a loud thud on the floor of her room, followed shortly by Salamon crashing onto the top of her head. "Oh man," she said, slowly sitting up and rubbing an area at the base of his neck, "That really hurt."

"Sorry," Salamon said.

The door to her room suddenly flew open and Mrs. Kamiya stood dumfounded in the doorway. "K..K..Kari?" she asked.

The brown-haired girl stood up and brushed herself off. "H..hi, Mom," she smiled weakly, "I..I'm sorry that I was…" She could not finish as her mother embraced her in a hug that threatened to stop her from breathing. "M..Mom!"

"I know that you were kidnapped, and that you had to save the world, or whatever…" Mrs. Kamiya said, pulling Kari around so she could look her daughter in the face, "…but if you ever do anything like that again, I'll chain you to your room for the rest of your life!"

"Mom, I…"

Her mother began to cry. "Kari, do you have any idea how long your father and I…"

"Mom, I'm sorry, but…" She trailed off when she noticed her father standing in the doorway. "Dad…" She was cut off as her other parent hugged in the same suffocating manner.

"Hikari Kamiya, where have you been?" he gasped, "And what has been going on?"

The brown-haired girl hesitated, then mentioned to Salamon, who had jumped onto Kari's bed to pretend she was only a stuffed animal, as she had done so many times before. "Mom, Dad, this is Salamon…"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yuehon sighed as she adjusted her twin hair braids as she sat on the stone cold benches of the court room. It was difficult, due to the fact that her hands were still handcuffed. "When is this trial going to take place?"

Hiroshi muttered a reply.

"What was that, Lord Hiroshi?"

"Just kept quiet!" he snapped. The Chinese girl often had to put up with Hiroshi's many mood swings, but this new anger he seemed to have towards her truly surprised even her. She was about to ask him when Gennai and Ryo walked into the court room inside of Gennai's house. The elder man walked behind the judge's seat and faced them.

"Hiroshi Hibishi, Penmon, Yuehon Cho Hung, and Candlemon, you have been accused of crimes against the Digital World, including, but not limited to: destruction of the Elemental Destiny Stones, destruction of numerous villages, murder of countless digimon, and attempting to open the barrier surrounding the Digital World, an act that could have ultimately destroyed every reality. How do you plead?"

Hiroshi cleared his throat. "I speak for Penmon and myself, Guilty."

Yuehon stared at him with hurt in her eyes.

"Miss Cho Hung?"

She turned back to Gennai. "Um Candlemon and I plead Guilty too."

The older man nodded to Ryo, who nodded back. "Your plea has been recorded. However, due to certain information given to this court by Kari Kamiya and other members of the Digidestined, specifically your recent aid while being trapped in the Dark Ocean, we are reducing the sentencing. You are placed on probation and community service. You will work for us and the Digidestined until your debt is repaid."

The foursome smiled, even Hiroshi. Ryo walked over and placed metallic ankle bracelets on all four beings. "You will be required to wear these," he explains, "It will give you a shock if you attack anyone programmed onto it: such as the Digidestined and Gennai and I."

"Don't worry," Hiroshi said, "That won't happen."

Gennai nodded. "Excellent. Your first job will be to help us transport Myotismon."

"Myotismon?" Penmon asked.

"Right now he's in my basement," Gennai half-smiled, "We've got to bring him to the Guardian's prison system."

The former Dark SEED leader nodded. "Right, I understand."

Alarms suddenly began to chime and sound throughout Gennai's house. "What's going on?" Penmon asked.

Ryo ran over to a small computer terminal attached to the courtroom wall. "The Town of Terra is under attack by Kyuubimon."

"What?" Gennai gasped, "She already destroyed every Destiny Stones, what more can she possibly do?"

"We can't wait around and discuss it," Hiroshi said, "We should call the other Digidestineds and get there as fast as we can."

Ryo nodded. "I'm contacting them right now."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

By the time the Digidestined had arrived in Terra, the mysterious Kyuubimon had already destroyed much of the town. The residents were mostly Golemons and Monochromons, whose attacks were failing miserably against the fox digimon. Their homes were destroyed and many of them could only stand by helplessly as the villainous digimon brutally destroyed what remained.

"How could one digimon do so much damage?" Kari asked, glancing out the window of the _Boreas_.

"She's destruction incarnate," Floramon added.

Davis nodded. "Well, all the more reason for us to get down there right now and stop her! Let's go!"

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon! Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon! Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon! Exveemon digivolve to Paildramon!"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon! Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon!"

"Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon! Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachiomon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon! Aquillamon digivolve to Silphymon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon! Kiwimon digivolve to Blossomon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Coelemon!"

"Candlemon digivolve to Apemon!"

All the evolved digimon jumped into the city in order to aid the digimon in the fight against Kyuubimon while the Digidestined themselves watched from the _Boreas_. The fox digimon stared at the eleven digimon standing before her. She growled and jumped into the air and started twirling as fast as she could, sending a white stream of energy into the air. "Dragon Wheel!"

Her attack smashed into Paildramon and Magna Angemon, having no effect at all. She spread her tails apart, a white ball of fire was flung from each. They hit the collective group of digimon, once again completely ineffective.

"That's it!" Tk shouted, "We've got her on the run, and she knows it!"

The fox woman slowly started to back up, but suddenly her body started to glow brightly, with such ferocity and illumination, that the digimon warriors were forced to advert their gaze.

"What's happening?" Tatum asked.

"I don't believe it!" Ken gasped, "She's..digivolving!"

The nova that once was Kyuubimon exploded into a full fledged supernova, but above the roar they could clearly hear: "Kyuubimon digivolve to…."

The light exploded, revealing a figure that made the Digidestined gasp in horror. A figure that was a mismatched version of Frankenstein's monster, Greymon's body, Garurumon's legs, Kabuterimon's head, Airdramon and Angemon's wings, Monochromon's tail, Kuwagamon, SkullGreymon and Devimon's arms, and Metal Greymon's hair. The figure grinned wickedly and spoke in a raspy growl.

"…Kimeramon!"

"Kimeramon!" Tk shouted from the safety of the _Boreas_.

"He's alive?" Yolei shouted.

"How can he be alive?" Kari demanded. She turned to Davis, "You told me you destroyed him!"

"We did!" Davis stammered, "But…but…"

"He must have been reborn," Ken said, "That's the only explanation! I mean, I was there, I saw Magnamon destroy him!"

"However he's still alive doesn't matter!" Hiroshi shouted, "We need to hit him right now!"

"He's right," Kari said. She grabbed her digivice, "Angewomon, you've got to digivolve!"

Her partner nodded and hovered into the air, along with Magna Angemon, Paildramon, Brachiomon and Megaseadramon.

"Angewomon digivolve to Holydramon!"

"Magna Angemon digivolve to Goldramon!"

"Paildramon digivolve to Imperialdramon!"

"Brachiomon digivolve to Megidramon!"

"Megaseadramon digivolve to Gigaseadramon!"

The five mega dragons positioned themselves to attack, however a group of dark beings caught their gaze. They were seven in all, draped in hooded trench coats, standing atop one of the few remaining buildings. Seven more beings appeared behind them, all of different shapes and sizes. Six were standing, but one was seated in a hovering throne. It was this one that addressed them.

"Halt, Digidestined! If you want to harm Kimeramon, you will need to attack us as well!"

"What makes you think you can stand up to us?" Davis asked, "If you haven't noticed, we have mega digimon as partners, and you don't seem to have any!"

"Our Digimon partners are not here at present," the seated figure said, "But rest assured, they have more then enough power to destroy you!"

"Who are you anyway?" Tatum asked.

"We are the Gods of the Cult of Darkness."

"What?" Hiroshi gasped, "Maybe Oikawa was telling the truth after all."

"Gods of Darkness, huh?" Yolei asked, "You don't look so tough to us."

The seated figure laughed. "There is still much that you don't realize."

"Like what?"

The seated figure mentioned to the other six. They grabbed hold of their hoods at the same time, and slowly removed them, revealing their true faces to the Digidestined.

"No!" Kari shouted.

"It can't be!" Tk gasped.

"It's impossible!" Yolei added.

The trench coat wearing beings, the Gods of Darkness, were teenage versions of the original Digidestined.

"You think it's impossible?" the seated figure laughed, "Ha!" He mentioned to the other six, "Introduce yourselves."

The girl at the end stepped forward. She was dressed in a black trench coat and a black dress. She had blond hair in two pigtails on either side of her head. "My name is Alice McCoy." She mentioned to a strange yellowish green symbol on the front of her skirt, "Crest of Gluttony, and my partner, Beelzebubmon!"

Behind her, a towering demon man twirled two large shotguns around his fingers then placed them both in their holsters.

The tallest and eldest boy then stepped forward. He was wearing a blue trench coat, dress slacks and blue sweat shirt. He wore glasses. "I am Joe Kido." He pointed to a symbol on the shin of his left pant leg, "Crest of Envy and my partner, Leviamon!"

An alligator type digimon appeared behind him and snapped his giant snout of a jaw.

Another girl stepped forward. She was dressed in a purple trench coat, green skirt and green t-shirt. "I am Mimi Tachikawa!" Her symbol was on the center of her shirt, "Crest of Greed, and my partner, Barbamon!"

A digimon that resembled a priest dressed in red robes appeared behind her. She bowed slightly, and swung her staff around.

The shortest boy stepped forward. He was dressed in an orange trench coat, dress slacks as well, but wearing a buttoned down shirt. "I am Koushiro Izumi!" His symbol was on the collar of his dress shirt. "Crest of Pride and my partner, Lucemon Falldown Mode!"

A humanoid angel digimon draped in white and black appeared. He chuckled wickedly.

A blond hair boy was next. He was wearing a bluish yellow jacket and was wearing dark blue jeans and a simple t-shirt. He mentioned to his symbol, which was on his right sneaker. "I am Yamato Ishida, holder of the Crest of Wraith, and my partner, Demon!"

A giant figure that resembled a cross between a monkey and a bat appeared. He roared loudly.

A tall girl with bright orange hair was next. She was wearing a reddish green trench coat, a short, tight-fitting red dress and her symbol was on a piece of cloth that was around her right leg. "I am Sora Takenouchi, Crest of Lust, and my partner, Lillithmon!"

A humanoid woman with black bat wings and wearing a black dress appeared. She grinned seductively and blew a kiss.

The seated figure was last. He was wearing a blackish indigo trench coat and wearing black slacks and a black shirt. His symbol was on the back of his white glove. "And I am Taichi Kamiya, Crest of Sloth, and my partner Belphamon!"

He pointed to the sky, where what appeared to be a furry, winged creature curled into a ball was hovering. "He's currently sleeping at the moment," Taichi explained, "I hardly find it necessary to exert the strength to call him, when my other warriors can do the job so perfectly."

"You can't be who you say you are!" Kari shouted. She reached for her Holy Lances and pointed them at her dragon partner.

"Holydramon, we need to fuse!"

The other five dragon digimon Digidestined reached for their own Holy Weapons. Each one fused with their dragon partners, creating a new, stronger fighter in its place.

While the strongest members of the Digidestined stared down the Gods of Darkness, the remaining digimon were struggling against Kimeramon. Digivolving did give it a superior strength boost, one that was difficult to overcome. "Hybrid Arms!"

Kimeramon's two set of arms stretched forward like elastic and snatched the attacking digimon: Silphymon in the Kuwagamon arm, Blossomon in the SkullGreymon hand, and Stingmon and Coelemon in the Devimon set. The only one that was still free was Yuehon's Apemon.

"Hold on!" he shouted, grabbing his bone club. Unfortunately, he was not able to use it successfully before Kimeramon swung all four of his arms into the age digimon. All five digimon fell into a large pile.

"I've got to…fight," Silphymon said, slowly rising to his feet. He executed a series of spins and twists with his hands, creating a ball of light that he shot forward. However, he was still weak and woozy from Kimeramon's assault, and his Static Force attack completely missed its target. The bird man fell back to the ground.

The fused human/dragon digimons hovered in the sky as they faced the Gods of Darkness. "So, this is your new trick?" Taichi asked, "I could never fuse with Agumon that way."

"Agumon is now Salamon!" Kari/Holydramon shouted, "And Kari is now Tai Kamiya! You're not me!" She leapt into the air, swinging her Holy Lances in front of her.

"We're right behind ya!" Davis/Imperialdramon called. He and the other fused human/dragon digimon flew into the air and joined their leader. On the other side, Taichi chuckled and mentioned to the other evil Digidestineds. Each one of the Demon Lords leapt in front of their partners and attacked, first Beelzebumon, followed by Leviamon, Barbamon, Lucemon, Demon, and finally Lillithmon.

"Double Impact!"

"Rostrum!"

"Pandemonium Lost!"

"Paradise Lost!"

"Flame Inferno!"

"Phantom Pain!"

The attacks combined together and slammed into four of the five human/digimon fusions. All except for Kari/Holydramon crashed into the ground and returned to their former forms. She could only stare in complete horror, focusing on her own evil counterpart, Taichi and his hovering demonic partner.

"Oh, Belphamon," he grinned, "Awaken now!"

The floating ball of fur slowly unfolded, revealing a monstrous creature, even for a demon, he was truly hideous. He was covered in black, with a goat-type head, and giant bat-like wings. He called out his attack in a deep, scratchy voice, "Gift of Darkness."

Kari/Holydramon was suddenly covered in a black mist. She screamed louder and more painful then she had ever screamed before. She fell to the ground, where she once again split into Kari and Salamon.

Taichi laughed as Belphamon returned to his sleeping form. "You are the great Digidestined, huh? You're pathetic, how could you ever think that you were us. You're nothing but imposters!" He nodded slightly, "But our diversion was successful, Kimeramon has escaped, but be warned, if you attempt to destroy him, you will need to deal with us."

The Digidestined, though extremely weaken, managed to look over their shoulders and see that the synthetic digimon had, indeed fled, but not before he had destroyed the Town of Terra. When they looked back, the Gods of Darkness and their Demon Lord Digimon had vanished.

_Preview: _

_The original Digidestined have returned! But what does that make Kari and the others? What plans do they have concerning the Digital World and what does it have to do with Kimeramon? And speaking of Kimeramon, something even stranger has occurred to him-he has split in two? _

_Next: " Apocalypse: Emergence" From darkness shall be born true evil._


	25. APOCALYPSE: Emergence

This is Yuehon. We had finally escaped from the Dark Ocean, and we discovered to our horror that the Digital World was dying! The oceans were gone, so was the farmland, the wind had stopped, and the sun was starting to blink out. We found out that a strange fox digimon named Kyuubimon destroyed the remaining Destiny Stones, and even worse, she digivolved into Kimeramon! And if that wasn't bad enough, the Gods of the Cult of Darkness attacked a town named Terra, and impossible as it may seem, they're the original Digidestineds, partnered with the great demon lords! What is going on here?

APOCALYPSE: Emergence

The Gods of Darkness sat inside of their throne room, with Taichi himself seated on the dark seat. "Those Digidestined must be stopped," he said, "Before they interfere with our plans concerning Kimeramon."

Sora walked over and sat on the armrest of the chair. She crossed her legs very seductively and began to run her finger along Taichi's chest. "Don't worry, Master, I'll handle that imposter who thinks she's you. I'll crush Kamiya in my bare hands."

"Don't forget about the rest of us!" Koushiro shouted.

"How could we possibly," Taichi sighed. He turned to the Man in Blue, "Yamato, I assume you'll want to fight Takashi?"

"Ha!" he laughed, clenching his hands into a fist, "I want to take down that arrogant brat Hiroshi Hibishi! He thinks he's so powerful, well, he doesn't know what true power is!"

"I will take care of Takashi," Koushiro said, smirking, "After all, only my power can take care of him."

Yamato glared at him, but before a fight could start, Taichi interrupted, glancing at the other fallen digidestined. "Does anyone else have a preference?"

Joe, Alice, and Mimi shook their heads. "Good," Taichi nodded, "Kimeramon must be allowed to continue to gather energy until the time is right. Then both worlds will be ours."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Town of Rararu was once surrounded by lush and almost tropical forests and farmland. That was before the Destiny Stones of Earth and Forest were destroyed, depleting the life energy that the plants needed to grow. Now Rararu was trapped in the center of an-ever growing desert. Up until today, they thought their problems could not become any worse.

The once peaceful morning of the Digital World was completely shattered as Kimeramon shot over the horizon. He attacked using his Heat Viper to blast a swath across the desert, with Rararu in its path. The citizens, almost all Mushroomons, were caught in the whirlwind of energy and sent flying in all directions.

Inside the city, a digimon named Alruamon, held a microphone tightly to her chest as she screamed into the television camera pointed towards her face.

"As you can see behind me, Rararu is under siege. The hideous Kimeramon is even now descending to the city to continue his rampage of destruction!"

This program was being viewed by almost every remaining being in the Digital World, including Gennai and Ryo, who were watching on a small portable television as they traveled through the tunnels of the Guardians' Prison Complex.

"This is bad," Gennai said, "He's unstoppable."

"And almost indestructible," Ryo sighed, "We've got to figure out a way to stop him."

The Monochromon they were riding on slowed to stop as they approached a large steel door. Two Guardromons were hovering next to the large land digimon. One of them pressed a button on the side of the wall and the door slid open. They continued through the hall until they reached a massive, circular room with hundreds of cells. The imprisoned digimon yelled and shouted as the Guardromon lifted Ryo and Gennai, as well as the metal casket that held Myotismon. They reached a cell, and after opening it, they threw the imprisoned Myotismon inside.

"Wait!" the vampire lord called after the electrified door was closed.

"What?" Gennai asked.

"How long am I going to be here for?"

"You will be trapped in this cell, hidden hundreds of miles beneath the Digital World's surface, until your data collapses. Enjoy."

After they left, Myotismon grinned. "Well, this couldn't have turned out better if I had planed it myself." He thought about the bat that was hovering above ground, waiting for the Digidestined to arrive.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"Hikari! What happened to you?"

Kari flinched at her mother's loud gasp as she came out of her room. She slowly stared at her mother, who was standing in the kitchen, the dishes she was holding shattered on the floor. "Kari!"

"Mom, I…I…"

Her mother ran over and hugged her tightly. "What happened?"

"Well, to be honest, we just got beaten."

"It looks like you lost pretty bad," she said.

"Mom, I'll be fine, really."

Her mother wanted nothing more then to squeeze Kari tight, to never let her go again, but she knew that she could not. She heard the doorbell, but hesitated, afraid that when she turned back around her daughter would be gone. She finally opened the door. "Oh, hello Tk."

The blond boy bowed. "Hello again."

Mrs. Kamiya saw the digimon in his arms. "Um, he..hello."

Tk smiled. "Oh, my partner is Patamon."

"Hiya!" he said cheerfully.

"Hello to you too," she smiled.

Kari mentioned to her room, "Let's go."

The trio walked into her room and shut the door. Patamon and Salamon began to play together. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Tk asked.

Kari hesitated. "I…um…well…I wanted to ask if you wanted to, um, see a movie sometime?"

He raised an amused eyebrow. "Are you asking me out?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am."

He hesitated this time, "Um..Kari, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I know that you have feelings for me, and I'm sorry, but…the feelings that I had for you…aren't there anymore."

She felt her spine turn to ice. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he said again, "But…I don't have any feelings for you anymore." He smiled weakly, "I guess it was just a passing crush. I'm really sorry."

Kari nodded very slowly. "Y..you're going out with Y..Yolei, right?"

He was silent for a long while, but nodded. "Y..yeah, yeah, I am. Well, not yet but, yeah, we've been talking." He stared at her. "I know how hard this must be. I'm really, very, very sorry."

Kari just nodded, very slowly. "I..I understand."

There was silence for another few minutes before Tk rose to his feet. "I..I guess I'll go. Come on Patamon."

The two digimon had been listening from atop Kari's bed. Patamon flew after his partner as they exited the room, closing the door after them. Salamon walked over to her partner. "Kari?"

Kari did not answer. She was thinking back to a decision she had made while still trapped in the Dark Ocean….

_When they had become trapped in this __Dark__Ocean__, Kari was in deliberation over her feelings towards Tk and Yolei. She cared, loved, for them both very deeply, but she could not be in love with both. She either needed to be with one of them, or neither. _

_ She sat down and leaned back against one of the dark trees. She had put this off for too long: she needed to make a choice. She did love Yolei, but that was only because of their past lives; however, it was that same past lives that was affecting her possible relationship between her and Tk. Who could she possibly choose? Could she even do that to her friends? She deliberated for what seemed like hours, before arriving at a decision. She rose to her feet once more and sighed deeply. She had made her choice, and she could not go back now._

"Tk," she said, "_You_ were my choice." Tears suddenly started to pour out of her eyes. She fell onto her bed, sobbing loudly into her pillow. She did not hear her D-terminal as it was still buried beneath a pile of her clothes.

Outside the apartment, Tk did hear his D-terminal activate. He read the message on the screen. He went to open the door to tell Kari, but decided that she needed time alone.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Hiroshi, Yuehon and their digimon walked through the destroyed remains of Terra.. "This is pointless," Yuehon sighed, "Why the hell are we even here?"

"We're searching for survivors!" Hiroshi growled, "And we're looking for information! The Gods of Darkness and Kimeramon were both here. We're looking to see if we can find any clues to them at all."

She flinched. She hesitated for a moment, before taking a deep breath. "Did I do something wrong Lord Hiroshi? Why are you so angry at me?"

He stopped walking and turned to face her. "I had a little talk with Oikawa when we were in the Dark Ocean."

"O..Oikawa?" she gasped.

"I see you recognize that name," he snarled at her, "Yeah, he told me about how he once was in charge of Dark SEED, until there was a rebellion to get rid of him. Your parents were in charge of that rebellion, and they used me to do it!"

He almost screamed in rage. "All this time, were you just using me?"

Yuehon and her Candlemon gasped in shock. "Y…you don't understand," she said, "Yeah, my parents did use you for that, but we were afraid of the power you had. They erased your memory of that time, but please believe me, I've always been your loyal servant, ever since my parents died. I'm not using you in any way, I've always followed you."

He hesitated. "So, your parents dying, that wasn't an altered memory?"

She shook her head. "No. After they died, I could have chosen to change your memories again, but I didn't. I let you lead, and your were perfect at it! Please, I'm not lying."

He was silent for a long while, before nodding. "All right. I've always trusted you, and I don't think I should stop now. "

"Awe, how sweet. The two maniacs make up."

The foursome shot their heads to the source of the voice. They saw two figures standing atop one of the remaining buildings, a teenage man wearing a blue trench coat and a demonic bat/monkey behind him.

"You're the fake Yamato Ishida!" Candlemon exclaimed.

"I am no fake," he grinned, "What I am, is your executioner!" He leapt onto the ground, with Demon landing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Hiroshi demanded.

Yamato smirked. "I'm here to deliver your heads to Lord Taichi!"

"What!"

"I am the Dark God Yamato Ishida of Wraith! And this is my partner Demon! Prepare to battle!"

Demon roared with maniacal laughter and shot forward. Hiroshi grabbed his digivice. "Penmon!"

"Penmon digivolve to Seadramon! Seadramon digivolve to Megaseadramon! Megaseadramon digivolve to Gigaseadramon!"

The mega serpent was able to deflect the demon monkey's punch before he injured the two humans. Yuehon turned to her partner, "Ready Candlemon?"

Demon smirked and fired a stream of fire into the small digimon. He flew backwards and slammed into one of the few remaining brick walls. Gigaseadramon stared at his enemy in horror.

"It's just you and me!" Demon laughed.

"Candlemon!" Yuehon cried.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Hiroshi shouted.

"Showing some feelings for someone else?" Yamato laughed, "I guess you're not as arrogant as I thought, but I'm still going to enjoy beating you into the ground."

Hiroshi tightened his fists. "Gigaseadramon, take them out!"

Gigaseadramon and Demon shot towards one another, their attack creating an explosion of light and force that destroyed more of the dead city. The serpent planted his massive jaw into Demon's arm. The monkey demon just grinned with the pain and punched his powerful fist into his opponent's serpent body. Gigaseadramon was forced to released his grip, which freed Demon's other arm. The monkey bat digimon used both of his arms to grab the serpent's body. He pulled as hard as he could, stretching Gigaseadramon's body as far as it could go. The serpent was able to spin around his tail and pierce Demon's back. Yamato's partner yelped and let go of Gigaseadramon. The two opponents jumped back and stared at one another.

On the side line, Hiroshi reached for his Holy Trident. "Okay Gigaseadramon, we're gonna have to fuse to deal with him."

"I'm ready."

Hiroshi pointed his Holy Trident at his partner and the large serpent glowed a blue light, in synch with the glow from the Holy Trident, and shrunk to a smaller form. Gigaseadramon merged with Hiroshi's body, which began to glow in the same blue light. When this aqua glow faded, a new, merged figure stood with a smirk on his face. This figured had the appearance of Hiroshi, but with metal scales and a long tail twitching behind him. He wore a helmet in the shape of Gigaseadramon's head and he held the Holy Trident firmly in his right hand.

"All right," he said in a merger of Gigaseadramon and Hiroshi's voice, "Let's try this again."

Demon grinned. "Bring it on!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Tk and Angemon met the other Digidestined as they were on their way towards the city under siege by Kimeramon. They were riding atop Paildramon. "Where's Kari?" Yolei asked.

He hesitated. "I'll tell you later, she's not going to be here. Where's Tatum and Derek?"

"He had something to take care of, and she's on her way" Davis said.

Tk hesitated, "I think maybe we should leave her behind too."

"What for?" Davis asked.

"Because Catherine's here and…I'll explain later, just trust me. If we need them, we'll call them." He quickly sent a message to Tatum.

The other seemed to accept this and when the Digidestined arrived in Rararu, they hoped that it was not too late. Many of the buildings were already lying in pieces on the ground. They watched as hundreds of digimon were lying dead on the ground before they were deleted.

"Zis is horrible!" Catherine gasped, "Zo many died."

"We've got to stop him!" Davis shouted, "Right now!"

More digimon could be heard screaming from the sections of the city that had not yet been destroyed. They quickly ran to that portion of the city, and saw the monstrous Kimeramon tearing through a massive group of Mushroom like cutting through butter.

"Kimeramon!" Tk shouted.

The beast digimon slowly turned around and stared at him. Tk clenched his fists. "Do you remember me? Huh?"

Kimeramon growled, screaming a deep loud rumble that shook the remaining buildings. "I guess that would be yes," Angemon commented.

Tk jumped out of his partner's arms and landed on the ground. "You'd better digivolve."

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon! Kiwimon digivolve to Blossomon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon! Aquillamon digivolve to Silphymon!"

The digimon, as well as Paildramon, shot towards Kimeramon. Magna Angemon was about to slash the evil digimon with his wrist based sword when another winged figure dropped down from the sky, kicking the Ultimate digimon in the stomach, sending him smashing into a near by building. The other digimon would have helped, but they were already engaged in the battle with Kimeramon.

"Magna Angemon!" Tk shouted, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I am fine," he said, climbing out of the debris, "Who attacked me?"

"I did," the attacker smirked arrogantly, "I'm hurt that you don't remember me."

"Of course they remember," another figure said, emerging from the wreckage of the city. He was wearing an orange jacket, and a grin as prideful as his partner. "But just in case you need a reminder, I am the Dark God Koushiro Izumi of Pride! And this is my partner Lucemon Falldown Mode! Prepare to battle!"

"Hang on Magna Angemon!" Yolei shouted, "I'll send Silphymon…"

"Stay out of this," Tk said, "Concentrate on Kimeramon. We can handle this guy."

"Ha!" Lucemon laughed, "No one can stop me! Paradise Lost!" He shot forward and began to pound Magna Angemon's chest at an incredible rate. The attack continued until Magna Angemon spun his foot behind Lucemon and yanked forward, knocking the dark angel onto his back. He swung his sword at his opponent, but Lucemon jumped back into the air. He executed his Paradise Lost attack again, knocking Magna Angemon onto the ground next to Tk.

"Magna Angemon!"

"I'm fine," he said, shooting back into the sky. Lucemon soon followed. The two angels continued to trade blows in the sky above them.

Meanwhile, the other digidestined continued to fight against Kimeramon. The monstrous digimon opened his mouth and screamed, "Heat Viper!"

The attack slammed into Paildramon, sending him twirling backwards into Stingmon. Ankylomon charged at Kimeramon and head butted him, ramming his head, as well as the sharp cartilage horns on his head deep into his stomach.

"Help him!" Catherine ordered. Blossomon began to slap her tentacles onto Kimeramon's back. Ankylomon leapt out of the way so Silphymon could swoop in to attack with his Astral Laser attack.

By this time Paildramon and Stingmon had untangled themselves and joined together in the attack. Paildramon fired his Desperado Blaster and Stingmon jumped behind the bullets and began to move his legs at an incredible rate, hitting each one of the bullets to give them extra force to pierce through the cloud of energy. Kimeramon groaned and fell onto his back.

"All right!" Davis cheered, "Our teamworks getting better! No one can stop us!"

Kimeramon groaned and jumped back onto his feet. Davis sweat dropped. "Then again, I could be wrong."

In the sky above them, Lucemon and Magna Angemon continued to exchange blows until the dark angel had succeeded in knocking the normal angel into the ground.

Tk gasped, then reached for his digivice. "All right, you've got to evolve again."

Magna Angemon climbed to his feet and waited until he felt the influx of energy from his partner. "Magna Angemon digivolve to Goldramon!"

Koushiro smirked as his partner began to glow as well. "Lucemon Falldown Mode digivolve to Lucemon Stan Mode!" The dark angel had become a black dragon, holding a strange ball in his arms.

Goldramon gasped at the evil dragon before him. He was in too much shock to move out of the way before Lucemon smashed the ball across his head.

"There's nothing you can do that I can't beat," Koushiro grinned, "Your Holy Weapon fusion won't work either."

Tk stared at the gold sword in his hand. "W..what?"

High above them, a lone bat flapped in the wind, watching the battle below.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari glanced at her door when she heard a knock. "Come in." She was expecting her mother, so she was very surprised when she saw Tatum and Betamon walk inside. "W..what are you doing here?"

"Tk e-mailed me on our D-terminals and said you might need a friend."

"Oh, Tk."

The braided-haired girl placed Betamon next to Salamon and she sat down next to Kari. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The brown-haired girl hesitated. "I..I was ready to tell him my real feelings. I..I chose him over Yolei, but now he and Yolei are together. I…" She sighed deeply.

Tatum hugged her and started to rub her back. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will turn out okay. It's not the end of the world."

She gave her friend a slight smile. "Have you had a lot of relationships?"

Tatum shrugged. "Not really. I've kinda been too busy. I know I shouldn't really be giving advice, but I know in my heart that you and Tk weren't meant to be together. I'm sure one day you'll find your soul mate."

Kari smiled again. "Thanks."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Myotismon stared up at the top of his metal cell. He closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the bat that he had sent to spy on the Digidestined. In his mind he saw a scene of Tk and Koushiro fighting, as well as the other Digidestined battling Kimeramon. He grinned. "Now is the time."

He fired another bat from his wrist, which flew towards the electrified bars of his cell. He continued to push the bat through, despite the pain he was suffering. Finally, the bat made it through the bars, and hovered outside in the massive circular room. The bat flew over to the control console next to the cell and smashed into it at full force. The bars gave a spark of electricity, then were silent. Myotismon grinned and easily kick the bars out. He hovered into the sky, then shot to the entrance tunnel.

Inside of the control room, red alarms began to blast. "Breakout!" Ryo shouted.

"Who?" Gennai demanded.

A Guardromon began to merge with the computer. "Subject Myotismon."

"Just great," Ryo said. He grabbed a near-by sword and began to swing it around. "All right, let's go."

Myotismon continued through the halls, but stopped when he heard a mechanical voice shout, "Guardian Barrage!"

He twisted his head and saw a stream of missiles flying towards him. He quickly shot his Grisly Wing attack. The two forces combined together and exploded in a blast of smoke and light. The Guardromon were slightly confused, but Myotismon shot through the smoke and slammed one of his fists into Guardromon's face. He twisted his leg around, smashing right through another Guardromon. He gently landed on his feet and stared at the small army of other Guardromon that was heading towards him.

"Crimson Lightning!" He flung his arms open, which sent the red streams tearing through the mechanical soldiers.

"That was too easy."

"Why don't you try me?"

He turned around and saw Gennai and Ryo blocking the exit of the tunnel. "Don't come any further," Gennai warned. Ryo whipped out the sword and swung it in front of him.

"Ha!" Myotismon laughed.

Ryo charged at the vampire lord, but he jumped into the air and kicked the back of Ryo's head. He fell onto the ground and Myotismon landed on top. He turned to face Gennai. "Nightmare Claw!"

The devilish attack slammed into the old man, sending him flying backwards. The vampire lord grinned. He pointed both of his hands to the ceiling. "Grisly Wing!"

The collection of bats tore through the ceiling and Myotismon soon followed, until he was floating in the digital sky. He roared with laughter. "Attention Digital World, I have returned!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Hiroshi/Gigaseadramon shot his fist forward, but Demon blocked with his own arm. The amount of energy caused the remaining buildings around them to shatter. The monkey digimon twisted his leg around, knocking Hiroshi/Gigaseadramon onto the ground. He grabbed hold of the human/digimon hybrid by the head and swung him through a series of destroyed buildings before smashing him into the ground.

Hiroshi/Gigaseadramon swung his trident up and knocked Demon into the bottom of the chin, then jumped backwards to a safe distance. He pointed his trident at his opponent and fired a massive ball of blue light. "Giga Sea Destroyer!"

Demon pointed his palm forward and created a massive stream of fire. "Flame Inferno!" Demon's attack smashed through the Giga Sea Destroyer, and straight towards Hiroshi/Gigaseadramon. The impact exploded, sending the fused human/digimon into the sky. Demon shot above him and slammed both of his fists into his stomach. He landed on the ground as Hiroshi and Penmon.

"Lord Hiroshi!" Yuehon cried.

"You're the great leader of Dark SEED?" Yamato laughed, "What you are is pathetic. How were you even a threat? Jeeze!"

Hiroshi glared at his opponent, hate in his eyes. "This sucks," he said, "I can't believe this is how it's gonna end. After all this, destroyed by someone who should have stayed dead."

Suddenly, his crest began to explode in light. _Hiroshi soon found himself floating in a strange dark void. "W..what's going on?" he asked. He turned around in the void and gasp as he saw a giant crest floating before him, with a symbol that resembled a 'S', but on its side. "What the hell is that?"He reached up and touched the crest, which cracked and exploded in bright light. There was a figure on the other side. "D..Dragomon?" _

He soon found himself back in real reality. He glanced down at his chest and saw that his crest had changed. It was now gold, with the same strange 'S' symbol on the front. He stared at it for another second before grinning. "Yeah, I understand. My Crest of Spirit has become the Crest of Fate."

He turned to his partner, "Ready to try again, Penmon?"

The bird digimon nodded. "Right behind ya!"

**Hiroshi's digivice fired a beam of gold light into Penmon. The bird digimon executed a back flip before jutting his head forward, a stream of gold energy flowing from his body. **

** "Penmon warp-digivolve to…"**

** The stream of gold energy continued to flow until Seadramon became visible. The serpent digimon turned slightly and screamed, sending another stream of gold energy forward. This time, Dragomon appeared in the stream. The squid digimon turned his head to the sky as another stream of gold energy flowed into a giant ball. Two muscular arms appeared from the side, with spiked gloves. A face appeared on the ball, as well as sharp spike that appeared all over the back. The new digimon took a deep breath, sending the spikes in all directions at once.**

** "…Pukumon!"**

"What the hell?" Yamato shouted.

"I..I remember that digimon," Yuehon said, "That's the one that defeated Oikawa!"

Hiroshi grinned as he stared up at his partner. "I understand now. The Crest of Fate was the hidden power that Oikawa was talking about. " He stared at Yamato with hate and anger in his eyes. "And now you're going to find out the power first hand. Pukumon, attack!"

The blowfish digimon shot forward and slashed his hand-based spike across Demon's chest. "Briten Punch!"

"So fast!" Yamato gasped, "How can that be?"

Pukumon started spinning around at an incredible rate, ripping his back spikes across the monkey bat's stomach. He shot back after his attack was finished.

"Excellent!" Hiroshi shouted, "Now show him what happens to those that dare to doubt our power!"

Pukumon took a deep breath and the spikes all over his body shot out in a multitude of different directions, but all heading towards Demon. The evil digimon screamed out in pain and collapsed onto his knees.

Yamato stared with his mouth open wide. "H..how could he beat you?"

"I need to get out of here," he panted.

The Dark God stared at Hiroshi with icy blue eyes. "This isn't over, not by a long shot." He grabbed a hold of his Demon Lord partner and the two flew into the air and disappeared over the horizon.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Back in Rararu, Tk stared at the Holy Weapon in his hands. "The..the Holy Weapon won't work."

"Don't listen to him!" Goldramon shouted, "He's lying!"

Lucemon Satan Mode roared with discontent. A blast of fire flowed from his mouth and engulfed the gold dragon. When the flames subsided, Patamon was panting heavily on the ground.

"Patamon!" the blond boy shouted.

"You've lost!" Koushiro laughed, "Just accept it! I'm the best, you could beat me."

Tk stared at his opponent. He forgot his momentary lose of faith and felt renewed sense of determination. He wanted nothing more then to wipe the arrogant grin off of the red-head's face.

His crest suddenly began to glow a bright orange. _He was soon encased in void of darkness, with a unfamiliar crest hovered above him. A symbol was engraved on it, one that resembled a sun rising over a mountain. "Another crest? But, I've seen it before…" He suddenly remembered when he was in the __Dark__Ocean__, when the D-reaper forced him to remember his previous life's death, and the crest that appeared when he needed it. He reached up and touched the crest, which exploded in light._

He was back in true reality, staring at the new crest in his hands. "My Crest of Friendship has become the Crest of Hope." He stared at Koushiro, "And now you're finished! Patamon!"

**Tk's digivice fired a beam of yellow light into Patamon. The pig/bat digimon executed a back flip before jutting his head forward, a stream of gold energy flowing from his body. **

** "Patamon warp-digivolve to…"**

** The stream of yellow energy continued to flow until Angemon became visible. The angel digimon turned slightly and screamed, sending another stream of yellow energy forward. This time, Magna Angemon appeared in the stream. The higher angel digimon turned his head to the sky as another stream of yellow energy flowed into a slightly larger winged figure. A set of metal armor began to form over his body, flowing like liquid metal and hardening over his body. Eight wings grew from his back and he formed seven small balls in his cupped hands which he shot forward.**

** "…Seraphimon!"**

"Impossible!" Koushiro gasped, staring at Patamon's new mega form, "You didn't have this kind of power in the Dark Ocean!"

"So you were watching us, huh?" he asked, "Well, it doesn't matter. I have my true power now, and I've got news for you, you're through!"

Seraphimon cupped his hands together and created seven glowing ball of energy. He through them forward at full force. "Strike of the Seven Stars!"

Lucemon Satan Mode screamed in pain as the attack tore across his body. Seraphimon shot forward and wrapped his arms around the dragon. "Starburst!"

The two opponents were encased in an explosion of light. A small child-like figure with wings shot out of the light and landed at Koushiro's feet. "L..Lucemon? You're in your Rookie form!"

"He was too much for me…" He groaned.

Koushiro stared up at Seraphimon's attack, which was still brightly illuminating the battlefield. "Let's get out of here while we can."

When the light finally faded, Seraphimon gently floated to the ground. "They're gone," the digimon said.

"They're really cowards," he said, "Like all bullies."

Seraphimon nodded, but turned his attention to the battle occurring behind them. "I think we'd better help the others."

He nodded. "Right."

Kimeramon opened his mouth and fired his Heat Viper attack. Stingmon and Ankylomon leapt out of the way with inches to spare. Unfortunately, this left them wide open for Kimeramon's arms, the Devimon arms grabbed Stingmon and Kuwagamon and Skullgreymon's arms held Ankylomon. The evil Ultimate smacked both of the digimon together and they regressed to their Rookie form.

"Oh no!" Ken and Cody gasped at the same time.

"Stop him, now!" Yolei ordered Silphymon.

"We'll back you up!" Catherine mentioned to Blossomon.

"Astral Laser!"

"Spiral Flower!"

Kimeramon laughed in glee and backhanded both of the attacks, sending them smashing back into the two digimon, regressing them as well into their rookie forms. The beast then executed his Hybrid Arms attack, which managed to knock Paildramon into the ground. "That's enough!" Davis shouted. He pointed his digivice at his partner. "Digivolve!"

"Paildramon digivolve to Imperialdramon!"

After evolving, the mega digimon quickly pointed his back-based cannon at his opponent and fired a giant blast of white light. "Positron Laser!"

The attack smacked Kimeramon in the stomach, causing him to roar out in pain. "Do it again!" Davis ordered.

"Wait!" Tk shouted, running over to him, "We'll attack together!"

Davis glanced up at Seraphimon. "Who is that?"

"I'll explain later," he said, "But that's my digimon partner. If we attack together, we'll get him."

Imperialdramon growled in agreement. "I digivolved too late. I'm too weak from fighting as Paildramon, I'll only be able to get out one more good attack."

"Same as me," Seraphimon said, "We'll have to make this one count."

"Attack on the count of three," Davis said, "One…two…three!"

"Positron Laser!"

"Strike of the Seven Stars!"

The two attacks of the mega digimon combined together and pounded Kimeramon in the stomach. He screamed in supreme pain and fell onto the ground. Imperialdramon and Seraphimon both regressed to their rookie forms. "I sure hope he's dead," Veemon said, falling onto his rear, "Because I don't have any energy left."

"Then you're really not going to like this," Davis gasped, "Because he's getting back up."

The Digidestined and their exhausted digimon stared in horror as the evil beast slowly rose to his feet. However, he was clutching his stomach and moaning loudly. "What iz wrong wiz him?" Catherine asked.

"He looks…sick," Floramon said.

Kimeramon's body started glowing brightly until a blast of energy exploded, sending the Digidestined flying backwards. Yet they still stared with awe and horror as Kimeramon's Devimon arms separated from the rest of his body, along with the digimon they truly belonged to.

"Devimon?" they all gasped.

The devil digimon stared at the Digidestined, then glanced over at Kimeramon. He laughed wickedly and floated into the sky. Kimeramon roared and then stumbled out of the city.

"What the hell is going on here?" Davis asked.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kimeramon ran through the desert before finally stopping at one of the few remaining sources of water in the Digital World, a very small lake that was once an ocean. He began to drink when he felt a presence behind him. He turned around only to see a man with a dark cape hovering before him.

"Greetings, my name is Myotismon."

Kimeramon hesitated.

"I mean you no harm," Myotismon said, "I only wish to become your companion and perhaps you can become mine, Kimeramon."

_Preview: _

_What is this strange being that has emerged from within Kimeramon? Is it truly Devimon, or something more? The Digidestined mount an attack on the Gods of Darkness, but can they survive? And waiting in the shadows, Kimeramon and Myotismon!_

_Next: " Apocalypse: Fusion" To combat the forces of darkness, the ultimate teamwork is needed. _


	26. APOCALYPSE: Light Revealed

This is Yuehon. Last time, Yamato Ishida and Koushiro Izumi of the Cult of Darkness attacked Lord Hiroshi and Tk. They were losing pretty badly, not even their Mega-level dragon digimon, Gigaseadramon and Goldramon could stand up against Demon and Lucemon. Then something happened to their crests, they changed! Lord Hiroshi's Crest changed from Spirit to Fate and Tk's changed from Friendship to Hope! With this new power, Gigaseadramon digovolved to Bukumon, and Goldramon digivolved to Seraphimon!

Meanwhile, Kimeramon attacked a helpless town. We fought him, and it looked like we were winning, until this mysterious digimon became even more mysterious, as the Devimon "portion' of him emerged from the rest!

APOCALYPSE: Light Revealed

Taichi frowned as he stared at Yamato and Koushiro, who were kneeling before him. "You failed to defeat your opponents? That I cannot tolerate."

"I'm sorry master," Koushiro said, "But Takashi's digimon evolved into a different mega form."

"So did Hiroshi's," Yamato protested.

"Enough!" Taichi shouted, "I understand that the Digidestined will soon be traveling to the Stone of the Center to download the basic program of the Digital World. If they do, they'll be able to reinstall the Digital World and all of our plans will be for nothing. Prepare a force to stop them."

Yamato and Koushiro nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good, now get out."

The two Gods of Darkness rose to their feet and walked out the door. Taichi leaned back in his throne as Sora walked in. She grinned and ran a finger over his face. She curled into a ball and jumped into his lap.

"Even you can't help me now," he sighed, "Those Digidestined are ruining our plans, they have almost defeated Kimeramon, but thankfully his metamorphosis has begun."

She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled into a playful kiss. "I will cheer you up. I will defeat Hikari Kamiya, and bring you her head!"

She leapt off of his lap and trotted out the door.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The Digidestined had all agreed to a meeting at Gennai's house. Hiroshi and Tk had just finished explained what had happened to their digimon partners while the others were discussing Kimeramon.

"I'm telling ya!" Davis gasped, "Devimon just…came out of him! It was like that "Alien" movie…"

"Not quite, but close enough," Yolei said, "We need to find out why that happened." She was trying not to look at Kari.

"We've got more bad news," Ryo said, "Myotismon has escaped."

"What?" Kari gasped, "How…?"

"I'd prefer not to talk about it," Ryo muttered.

"Well, what should we do first?" Tk asked, "Hunt down Myotismon, or those Cult of Darkness things?"

"Or Kimeramon," Patamon added.

"I've got an idea," Davis said, "Why don't we check out that Temple of Darkness in the Forest of Shattered Light? That's their main base, right?"

"That's a good idea," Kari said, "We'll split up, half of us will go to the Temple of Darkness, the other half will try to find Myotismon or Kimeramon. All right?"

"Do we have any idea where they are?" Ken asked.

"A rumor came through our, ah, 'usual channels,' that Kimeramon was sighted on the other side of the Server Continent."

Tk sighed. "Seems like as good a place as any to start."

And so, after splitting into two groups, they journeyed to almost opposite ends of the Digital World. Kari could have easily split up Tk and Yolei, but the guilt would have overwhelmed her. So she chose: Ken, Yuehon, Derek and Cody to accompany her as she searched out Kimeramon, while Davis, Hiroshi, Yolei, Tk, Catherine and Tatum invaded the Temple of Darkness in order to discover clues about their new enemies.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Myotismon gently sat down on the rocks surrounding the oasis. He made a few gestures with his hands, and two bats appeared in a flash of light. One of the bats changed into a cup, which the second bat used to fill up with water and bring to its master. The vampire lord smiled to himself and drank the water. "This is one of the few bodies of water left in the Digital World. You should drink while you can."

Kimeramon just growled. The vampire lord chuckled. "Do not be so afraid, my friend. Drink, please."

The synthesized digimon nervously approached the water. He sniffed it before submerging his head. Myotismon shook his head. "I meant to drink in a civilized manner. I think I should have to teach you manners and class."

Kimeramon pulled his head back out and stared at his 'friend,' water dripping from his head. He just growled.

"You can't speak, can you?" Myotismon asked. Kimeramon just stared at him, a mindless look in his eyes. "And I believe you have a limited intelligence as well. Perhaps when you were created by the Digimon Emperor, he was not able to give you a conscious mind. Flesh is easy to manipulate, but a soul? That is so much more difficult."

He leaned back and stared out across the desert. "Since the destruction of the Destiny Stones, the Digital World will surly die. The only way to make sure we survive, is to travel to the human world." He closed his eyes, "Ah, I remember that world well. I could have had it, you know, I could have ruled it easily, but those damn Digidestineds stopped me, and then Gennai and those blasted Guardians banished me to beyond the dimensional barrier, but I survived! I will not allow myself to be destroyed when the Digital World dies!"

He turned to Kimeramon. "And with you, my powerful friend, with you as my weapon, I'll find a way into the human world once more."

The fused digimon only stared at him. "You don't comprehended one word I'm saying, do you? Could you simply be destruction incarnate, or something…more. You seemed to be intelligent before, but now…What mystery surrounds your birth?"

He rose to his feet and approached Kimeramon. "Come, my friend. We search for the Digidestined, and a passage to Earth!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari's group had stopped for a rest near an oasis. "This is taking forever," Ankylomon said, resting his head on the ground. "We've been searching forever."

"It's only been a few hours," Cody clarified.

"More like six," Yuehon said.

Cody shot her a glance. "We still haven't found Myotismon or Kimeramon."

"I don't like sitting around here," Yuehon said, rising to her feet, "Candlemon and I will scout ahead."

"Maybe I should go with you," Cody offered.

"No, we're fine," Candlemon said.

"I insist," Cody said, following her away from the oasis. Kari looked to Ken.

"He doesn't trust her, does he?"

Ken shook his head. "He won't forget about everything she and Hiroshi did to us."

Kari nodded. "Yeah, I kinda felt the same way at first, but…he really came through for us in the Dark Ocean."

"I don't think you'll be able to convince him," Ken said, "It's going to take a lot."

About a mile ahead of them, Yuehon had climbed to the top of a large hill in order to get a better view of the desert area. She could feel Cody's stare on her back.

"All right, what is it?"

"I'm just keeping an eye on you, that's all."

"Why?" she asked, eying him, "You don't trust me, do you?"

Cody shook his head. "No, not really. I'm sorry, but I don't."

She nodded, surprisingly looking hurt. "I see. The others trust us, right?"

"I'm a little more…cautious, then them. None of them have ever lost a father, like I did."

"W…what happened to him?"

"He trusted someone he shouldn't have. He had a friend when he was younger, and while my father became a police man, his friend went on the wrong side of the law. My father had to arrest his friend, but he convinced him that he wouldn't be a criminal anymore. My father believed him, until he was called into a crime in progress. My father's friend was there and ended up killing him."

The Chinese girl gasped. "I…I'm sorry, but trust me, I am _not_ going to hurt you."

"I want to believe you, but…"

Before Yuehon could answer, Ken shouted to them that Gennai had contacted them on their D-terminals.

"He said that there's a report of a dark digimon attacking remaining towns along the coast," Ken explained.

"Myotismon or Kimeramon?"

"That's just the thing, it's neither. It's someone else."

"We'd better check it out," Kari said.

Armadillomon digivolved to Ankylomon and Wormmon armor evolved to Searchmon. The others climbed onto the 'carrying' digimon as they flew across the Server Continent.

"This is so horrible," Salamon said, staring at the dead, decaying desert, "Our home is going to be destroyed."

"I know," Searchmon buzzed, "But once we download the basic Digital World's programming from the Stone of the Center, we'll be able to reload it."

"I just hope everything's okay."

The rest of the journey was traveled in silence until they approached the smoky remains of a destroyed town. "I can't believe this!" Cody shouted, displaying a surprising display of anger, "This world is dying, and yet someone seems so eager to help it along!"

"Whoever did this couldn't have gotten far," Derek said, "I bet if we look, we'll find 'em."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis's group slowly descended through the black tree tops of the Forest of Shattered Light. Hiroshi scanned the trees. "So, this is the dark forest, huh?"

Catherine hugged herself and shivered. "Oui, I never wanted to zee t'is place again."

"It's strange, isn't it?" Yolei asked, "That while the rest of the Digital World is dying, this place seems even…stronger?"

"Because in a time of despair and death," Tatum said, "Darkness thrives."

"How true," Tk said, "Well, Davis, show us the way."

They began to walk deeper into the forest. Tk and Yolei became aware that Tatum was staring at them. Finally, Yolei turned to her. "What?"

"N..nothing," she said, "I was just thinking how cute the two of you look together."

The purple-haired girl sighed. "You know then, huh?"

She nodded. "Kari told me."

Yolei stared at her. "So, are things between…_us_, okay?"

"Yeah. I feel sorry for Kari, but if you two have feelings towards one another…"

"I feel so bad about Kari," Yolei sighed, "I know she loves me, and I do love her, but I want a serious love, I want a family and children, and…and…"

"Kari can't give them to you."

"It's ironic," Tk said, "We both loved Kari, and she loved us, and we ended up loving each other. I can't ignore how I feel, but I don't ant to hurt Kari."

"We need to talk about it," Yolei said, "but we don't know how."

"She's your friend," Tatum smiled, "She might be hurt now, but I'm sure she'll be happy for you."

In front of them, Catherine, Davis, and Hiroshi had been listening. "Poor Kari," Catherine said, "All she really wanted was love."

"Eh, love, who needs it!" Hiroshi said.

Catherine stared at him. "Jus' what a _boy_ would zay!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know!"

Hiroshi gave her a mischievous smile, "Better then being a dumb blond girl!"

Catherine clenched her fists together as her mouth turned into a snarl and her teeth grounded. She was about to rip out Hiroshi with her nails, but Davis grabbed her. Even though he was bigger and stronger then her, it took everything he had to hold her back. He struggled to speak, ignoring the pelts he was getting from her elbows. "I'm….not…gonna…let…you….two

near…each…other…again!"

Veemon called out, "Hey, we're here."

"Yes," Floramon said, "This is just as I remembered it."

"This place is…is horrible!" Yolei gasped, "I don't think I…I ever felt like this before! This…this fear…this darkness!"

The others did not have a response as they entered through the doors and walked to the main worship room. The statue of the Dark God, now know to the Digidestined as Lord Taichi, was still standing.

"There's no one here," Hawkmon said.

"Good," Hiroshi grinned, "No on to get in my way!"

They found a hallway behind the statue with doors running along both walls. They were about to start searching through each one, when Patamon's ears shot up. "What's wrong?" Tk asked.

"I hear something." He jumped off of his partner's head and flew to one of the doors. The others ran over and quietly listened. They heard a female voice on the other side.

"Yes Lord Taichi. The Bakemon report that Kimeramon and Myotismon have been seen together, near what remains of the Server Continent. Yes, we're about to head out after them."

"The know where Myotismon and Kimeramon are?" Yolei gasped, "We have to tell Kari."

"No, you won't!"

They turned around and saw Alice, Impmon, Joe and a Shakomon, a clam digimon. "You are intruders! Mimi, security alert!"

The door flew opened and Mimi and black Palmon ran outside. "Well, what have we here?" she asked.

Joe grinned. "I am the Dark God Joe Kido of Envy! And this is my partner Shakomon, digivolve!"

"Shakomon mega digivolve to Leviamon!"

"I am the Dark Goddess Alice McCoy of Gluttony, and this is my partner, Impmon, digivolve!"

"Impmon mega digivolve to Beelzemon!"

Mimi laughed in a shrill voice. "I am the Dark Goddess Mimi Tachikawa of Greed! And this is my partner, Palmon, digivolve!"

"Palmon mega digivolve to Barbamon!"

Davis's group was trapped between the three Dark Gods. "All right," he said, "Digivolve!"

The digimon quickly evolved to their highest forms of: Imperialdramon, Goldramon, Gigaseadramon, Megidramon, Blossumon and Silphymon. Davis and Tk used their Holy Weapons to fuse with their dragon partners, creating humanoid dragons, a perfect merging of digidestined and digimon alike. After evolving, the battle began.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari's group, who had been searching for the past few hours, had arrived at another town, completely destroyed. Searchmon was just passing over the town, when a beam of energy struck his underside. He was caught in a tailspin and crashed right on top of Ankylomon.

"What happened!" Cody gasped, "Are you okay?"

"Something hit me," Searchmon said, "Threw me out of the sky."

Derek's Crabmon gave a small shout. "It was probably him."

The Digidestined turned to the horizon of the town and saw a black figure hovering over them. "It's that Devimon!" Derek exclaimed, "The one that came out of Kimeramon!"

The Devimon glared at the group. "You…you have been following me."

"You're destroying the Digital World!" Cody shouted, "We can't let you keep doing it!"

Devimon chuckled. "Then, by all means, come after me."

Ankylomon charged into him, pounding his head into his stomach. The devil digimon was thrown backwards. Searchmon had jumped back into the air and used his "Jamming Hertz," attack to send a bolt of violate lightning into the destroyer.

"Salamon digivolve to Gatomon!"

"Crabmon digivolve to Coelemon!"

"Candlemon digivolve to Apemon!"

"Attack him together!" Kari ordered, "Now!"

Coelemon's sharp fossils struck Apemon's Bone Stick, making it a spinning razor blade. Gatomon's attack propelled the deadly weapon further, slicing into the devil digimon.

"What's going on here?" Ken asked himself, "That was too easy."

Devimon started laughing, then he propelled himself forward. His body was overcome with white light.

"What's happenin'?" Derek gasped.

"He's digivolving!" Coelemon shouted.

"Devimon digivolve to Ladydevimon!"

The newly digivolved warrior easily tore through her opponents. She grabbed Coelemon by the tail and threw him into Gatomon. Apemon attacked with his bone club again, but the devil woman was able to grab it and fling it backwards, smacking the primate digimon in the face.

Searchmon and Ankylomon appeared on both sides of her. She grinned to herself and waited for the insect to attack with his Jamming Hertz. She jumped out of the way, and the lightning smacked into the dinosaur digimon. The devil woman then grabbed Searchmon and flung him around into Ankylomon.

"That was too easy," she grinned. "Digidestined, I'm sure we'll meet again." She flew away, disappearing in the sky.

"What happened?" Kari asked.

"I think we got our butts' kicked!" Yuehon snapped.

"She's getting away!" Ken shouted, "We've got to go after her!"

Searchmon used his head to mention to his back. "Jump on, and we'll…." He trailed off as he stared at another figure who had appeared before them. It was a young woman, with red hair.

"You're that fake Sora Takenouchi!" Derek shouted.

"I am not a fake!" she screamed, "I am the Dark Goddess Sora Takenouchi of Lust!" She smirked in a sexy smile. "And I'm here on behalf of Lord Taichi."

"What for?" Kari asked.

She pointed at her. "To challenge you!"

"What about us?" Derek asked, "We're chopped liver?"

"I care not for you," she said, eyeing Kari, "Only her."

"What if I don't want to fight?"

She smirked and snapped her fingers. Above them, Lilithmon appeared, dropping down in front of Sora. The demon woman flashed a sexy smile, before executing her attack. She swung one of her claws, but she was too far away to cause any damage, or so the Digidestined thought. Apemon gave a scream of pain as the skin on his chest tore away, in a perfect replication of where Lilithmon's claws would have struck.

The demon woman grinned. "Phantom Pain!"

"Apemon!" Yuehon called, "Apemon, are you okay?"

"I'll…I'll be fine," he said.

Kari stared at the injured primate digimon. She turned back to Sora, an angry expression on her face. "Leave the others out of this!"

"Then fight me now!"

Kari hesitated. "We need to go after Ladydevimon." She nodded, "Just let the others go on their way, then I'll fight you."

She grinned. "Fine."

The brown-haired girl continued to stare at the red-haired girl. "All right," she said, "Ken, you and the others go after Ladydevimon."

"What about you and Gatomon?"

"We'll be fine," she said, "You need to find out what you can about Ladydevimon and her connection to Kimeramon."

He nodded. "All right. Let's go."

"Good luck," Cody said, as he and Derek rode away on Ankylomon, while Ken and Yuehon climbed onto Searchmon as he flew into the distance.

Kari stared at Sora, and could only see the Sora she remembered, the ten-year-old, dressed in a sleeveless yellow shirt and blue helmet, not the teenager in the orange trench coat and dress that would make a prostitute blush. "Why do we even have to fight?" she asked.

"Because you are our enemy," she said, "You are trying to stop Kimeramon."

"What exactly do you have to do with Kimeramon anyway?" Gatomon asked.

"Enough questions," Sora barked, "We're fighting, right now!"

"Alright Gatomon," Kari said, "Looks like we're not getting out of this."

"Don't worry Kari, I won't let you down." She quickly digivolved to her mega form of Holydramon. The dragon and the demon stared at one another before shooting forward.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Silphymon was thrown through the brick wall of the Temple of Darkness. He had to twist himself around in a circle in order to make himself right-side up. He stared at Kido's Leviamon, who was snapping his massive jaw and grinning wickedly. His partner laughed manically.

"So, you're the threat that Lord Taichi was so worried about, huh?" he asked.

Leviamon chuckled. "You don't seem so tough to me!"

"Silphymon!" Yolei shouted, climbing out of the hole in the wall, "Silphymon, are you okay?"

The floating digimon rubbed his injured arm. "Y..yeah."

"You won't be for long," Joe chuckled. "So them exactly what we can do."

His partner quickly snapped his jaw shut, which sent a powerful blast of water at the floating bird/man digimon. He braced for the impact, but Davis/Imperialdramon leapt in the way and, with a flick of hand, sent the water attack flying into the sky.

"Thanks," Silphymon said.

"No problem," Davis/Imperialdramon answered, "But we'd better work together to take this guy down."

Joe snorted. "How sweet. I wish we could use teamwork more," he mentioned to Alice and Mimi, "But I guess I just have to accept it. I'll destroy you for that!"

Leviamon leapt into the air and tackled Silphymon to the ground, but before Davis/Imperialdramon could help him, Leviamon grabbed his foot with his massive jaw and threw him into the ground.

By this time, the other combatants had escaped the confines of the temple and were engaged in their own battles. Gigaseadrmon and Blossumon had teamed up together to combat Mimi's Barbamon. The strange demon digimon was surprisingly fast, and easily tore through Blossumon's attacks, and still was able to jump out of the way before Gigaseadramon fired his Giga Sea Destroyer, directly at Blossumon. It was only through luck and skill that he was able to redirect his energy attack at that last second, sparing his partner.

Down on the ground, Mimi stood firmly as she stared at Catherine and Hiroshi. "I can't believe that _you_ think that you're _me!"_

"I am you!" Catherine shouted, "You are ze one who iz mistaken!"

She huffed. "How can you honestly believe that? I mean, look at you, by the look of those jeans and that shirt, you should be out wrestling with the boys or something!"

She stared down at her clothes, then over at Mimi. "Well, it iz better zen dressing like zome kind of prostitute!"

Mimi smirked. "What can I say, I love money! Maybe I can lend you some for a makeover. I mean, I hate to spend money, but I can't stand it when girls like you don't take better care of your appearance!"

Hiroshi sighed in annoyance. "Maybe we should stop with this feminine crap and focus on the battle?"

"Shut up!" Catherine screamed at him. She then turned to Mimi and, after expulsing a stream of French obscenities, tackled the other girl to the ground. Hiroshi stared with wide eyes as the two girls viciously attacked one another.

"Wow."

Tatum and Alice stared at one another. "So," Tatum said, "You're me?"

"And you're me," Alice said, "But, am I more of you then you are of me, or are you more of me, then I am of you?"

"But, how can that be?" Tatum asked.

"What is…simply is."

Tk/Goldramon sighed and smiled slightly. "Let's see, cryptic answers, yeah, the two of you are the same person all right."

Alice mentioned over her shoulder to her demon lord partner, the gun-totting Beelzemon. "Take them down."

He grinned. "I'm gonna enjoy this. Double Impact!"

Megidramon leapt in front of Tatum and deflected the bullets. He roared in anger and jumped forward, grabbing Beelzemon by the shoulders and threw him into the ground. Tk/Goldramon aided his teammated by attacking with his Holy Sword, slicing one of the demon's guns in half.

"Not bad," Beelzemon grinned, "But I've still got one more!" He grabbed his gun and fired at Tk/Goldramon, but the human/digimon shot higher into the sky to avoid the attack. Megidramon snuck around from behind the demon and struck him in the back.

Over on the other battlefield, Davis/Imperialdramon and Silphymon continued to fight Leviamon. The demon lord was not making it easy, as his massive jaw was long-reaching and powerful. Silphymon flew in to fire his laser at the demon's eye, but he swung around and used his snout to slam the flying digimon into the wall of the Temple of Darkness.

"Just give it up," Joe said, "You'll never defeat us."

Yolei stared at her. "Why?"

"What?" he snapped.

"Why are you doing this? What are you? What is your connection to Kimeramon?"

Mimi chuckled as she kicked Catherine in the face, sending the blond girl onto her back. She then turned to Yolei, while Gigaseadramon and Blossomon tried their best against Barbamon. "Our secrets aren't gonna be let out that easily!"

"But why are you helping Kimeramon?" Hiroshi asked, "Oikawa told me that you're trying to resurrect a dark god!"

Mimi chuckled. "Yes and no. The Dark God is reviving, but we are just making sure the Digital World is in the proper…conditions, for him."

"Zen, what are you?" Catherine asked.

"I'm Mimi Tachikawa, and you're nothing but a fake."

"But how can that be?" Tatum asked, "If you really are the real Digidestined, why are so…evil?"

"Evil?" Alice asked, "The Digital World must be purified, it is overrun with darkness and death. Only when the Dark God returns, then will this world be as it once was. We learned that during….a period when we were….gone from both worlds."

"You mean dead?" Tk/Goldramon asked, dodging a jab from Beelzemon, "That must be when _we_ were born!" He growled. "What is going on? Why do you have such an interest in Kimeramon?"

Joe smirked. "Make us tell you."

"I'll make you all right," Hiroshi shouted, "When I tear your skin from your body!"

Gigaseadramon sensed his partner's anger and was filled with renewed strength. He dove at Barbamon and, before she could react, wrapped himself tightly around her. Like a real serpent, he began to squeeze. The demon lord screamed in pain.

"Barbamon!" Mimi shouted, "You cannot lose! I won't let them take anything that belongs to me!"

"Listen to you!" Catherine shouted, "Ze ozers considered Mimi Tachikawa to be spoiled, but if those she cared about were in trouble, she would be ze first to help zem! You only care about your partner, because you t'ink zat zhe belongs to you!"

Mimi stared at her. "Shut up! I'm getting tired of your self-righteous attitude!"

Catherine ran over and punched her in the stomach. Mimi retaliated by grabbing Catherine's hair and yanking it back with all of her might. The French girl screamed. Mimi quickly shot her arm around and grabbed Catherine's neck in a headlock. The blond girl clawed at Mimi's arm, but the Dark Goddess was stronger, not to mention her leather trench coat was protecting her. "Can't…can't breath…."

"Well, 'sis'," Mimi grinned, "Enjoy your next life, and don't try to steal mine!" She laughed, then suddenly screamed. Her grip on Catherine's neck weakened, and the French girl was able to escape. She fell to the ground, clutching her chest and panting heavily. She glanced up at her 'double,' only to watch as Mimi's eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the ground, with the Holy Trident in her back.

"I hope you don't mind," Hiroshi said, removing his weapon from the fallen goddess, "But you were in trouble."

"Vous avez sauvé ma vie," she coughed, "Thank you."

Hiroshi nodded. He glanced to the sky, "And without the Digidestined, the digimon partner can't last long."

And he was correct, without Mimi, her demonic partner last a great deal of strength. Gigaseadramon and Blossumon were able to make short work of the treacherous Barbamon. The demon lord fell to the ground, landing next to her partner.

"Mimi!" Joe shouted. He growled in anger. "That's enough! Leviamon, take them down! Kill them!"

The aquatic demon grinned in pleasure, showing his full mouth of razor-sharp teeth. Leapt into the air, his jaw opened completely, aiming for Silphymon.

"Silphymon!" Yolei shouted, "Be careful!"

The bird/man digimon executed a rhythmic dance, creating a ball of energy in his palms. "Static Force!" he screamed, sending the ball directly down Leviamon's throat. The demon fell back onto the ground. He coughed, then burped a cloud of smoke.

"A little spicy, but nothing some water won't cure," he laughed.

"That was my best attack!" he shouted.

"You're not strong enough," Davis/Imperialdramon said, the claws on his Holy Gauntlets shinning in the darkness of the Forest of Shattered Light, "Leave it to me." The massive cannon on his back began to glow brightly, firing a intense beam of white light at the aquatic demon. Levimon skidded back, but was still non the worse for wear.

"I'm not going down that easily!" he chuckled. He started to swing his tail, which suddenly changed into a whip-like tentacle, which smacked Davis/Imperialdramon in the head. "Cauda!"

Silphymon dove towards the demon, his body covered by light. "Astral Laser!" The light flew from his body and struck Leviamon in the side. The demon twirled to stare at him, which gave Davis/Imperialdramon a chance to stab the claws of his Holy Gauntlets deep into Leviamon's stomach.

"No!" Joe shouted.

"Oh yes!" screamed Yolei.

Davis/Imperialdramon grinned and threw the demon into his human partner. His back-based cannon began to glow once more as it fired a column of light into both of them. "Positron Laser!"

"You're the only one that's left," Tk/Goldramon said, "Just give up, tell us what we want to know."

"I'll nevah surrendah!" Beelzemon shouted, pointing his remaining gun directly at Tk/Goldramon and Megidramon, "And I'll kill you two right now!" He began to fire rapidly. The two dragons split apart, but the demon still was able to get a few good hits, piercing the shoulder of Megidramon, and the left foot of Tk/Goldramon. The fused human/digimon was injured, but the pain only fueled Megidramon's anger. He tackled Beelzemon to the ground and began to beat him mercilessly.

Down on the ground, Tatum and Alice seemed obliviously to the battle being raged around them. "How can you be me?" Tatum asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Alice said.

"Forget that question. Why do you have such an interest in Kimeramon? Why is he so important to you?"

"I…I cannot say," she said, "You will discover why in due time." She sighed, "If you survive, that is."

Tatum frowned. "If you're so willing to choose death over information, then so be it!" She reached into her robes and pulled out her Holy Whip. She cracked it onto the ground. It began to glow a red light. Above them, Megidramon began to glow in the same fashion. Both human and digimon were pulled together, creating a new being, a human girl wearing a red gymnast uniform, with red boots, a long tail, and a helmet in the shape of Megidramon's face.

Tatum/Megidramon turned to Tk/Goldramon. "Let's end this now!"

The other digidestined/digimon nodded. "Right."

Tatum/Megidramon started swinging her whip around before her, which ignited into a ball of red flames. Tk/Goldramon, however, swung his sword above his head, which created a gold ball of flames.

"Meggido Flame!"

"Gold Flame!"

Both fire attacks slammed into Beelzemon's stomach, sending him crashing into Alice. Both demon digimon and dark goddess remained perfectly motionless.

"I guess that's it then," Davis/Imperialdramon said.

"No it's not!" Catherine gasped, "Look at ze them!"

"They..they're dissolving!" Yolei said, "Just like when a digimon dies!"

She was correct. While the data of the demon digimon were slowly being separated, it appeared that the same thing was happening to the humans as well. Soon, all six beings were gone, dissolved into air.

"W..what are they?" Tk asked.

The Digidestined put that question out of their minds and ran back into the temple. They searched through every room for what seemed like hours before they discovered something important about their quest.

"There's nothing here!" Hiroshi shouted, "This was a complete waste of time!"

"Well, we did learn something," Tk said, "We know that Kimeramon and Myotismon have teamed up, or whatever you want to call it."

"So we can kill two birds with one stone, right?" Veemon asked.

"Yeah," Davis sighed, "Now, if we could only _find_ them…"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Holydramon roared loudly as she flew towards Lilithmon. The dragon pulled up at the last second, smacking her tail into her opponent. The demon woman grabbed the dragon's tail and began to swing her around before throwing her into the ground. If Holydramon was injured, she did not show it as she leapt back into battle.

Below them, Sora and Kari were engaged in a face off of their own. Both young women continued to stare at one another, even as their digimon battled above. "Stop this Sora," Kari said, "Please. Don't do this. There's still time, we can save the Digital World. Just tell us about Kimeramon, tell us what you're planning on doing!"

She just laughed. "Oh, is this were I'm supposed to renounce my 'evil' ways, turn to the so-called good guys? Sorry, it's not going to happen. I serve Lord Taichi, and I always will. You…fake…you will not turn me!"

Her demonic partner felt Sora's surge of anger, and began to use her claws to mercilessly rip across Holydramon's fur, down to her scales. Kari looked on with worry, but breathed with relief when she saw her partner retaliate by exploding her body in light. "Apocalypse!"

"Quite an attack," Sora said, "But it's no use against Lilithmon."

Kari turned back to her, a scowl on her face. "Don't be so sure! Holydramon's stronger then you think!"

Sora smirked. "Ah, so now you're so eager to destroy me, huh?"

"You want it this way!" Kari protested, "We don't have to! Please, don't make us destroy you."

"Don't worry, you won't," Sora said, "Lilithmon, take her down!"

"Holydramon, stop her, but try not to hurt her."

The two mega digimon stared each other down. Lilithmon was the first to strike. She jumped up and slashed Holydramon's chin with her claws. The dragon counted by bringing her tail around and smashed the demon woman into the ground.  
"You're strong," she said, rising to his feet, "I'll give you that, but that alone won't save you!"  
"You talk too much," Holydramon said. She fired her Holy Flame attack, but Lilithmon blocked it with a flick of her arm. She went to once again dig her claw into the dragon's stomach, but Holydramon appeared to be faster.  
Below them, Kari shook her head fiercely. "Sora, why are you doing this? You were always the most…kind…self_less_, how can you even think about doing any harm to this world?"

"Stop this," she said, "It's getting old."

"Sora, don't you remember when Datamon captured you?"

The red-headed woman hesitated, "I…I…" She fiercely shook her head, "I don't remember anything!"

She looked to the sky. "Kill her Lilitmon!" she shouted,"Destroy her!"  
"Fight her, Holydramon!" Kari said, "You've got to fight!"  
Lillithmon landed on a nearby cactus. Holydramon breathed out a stream of fire, but the demon woman leapt back into the sky. The cactus was instantly destroyed.  
"Stop dodging!" Holydramon shouted,"And fight me!"  
"As you wish," Lilitmon said, charging forward, her claws outstretched before her. She moved with a suddenly influx of speed and finally jammed her claws through Holydramon's stomach. "Things are about to get hot! Nazar Nail!"  
Holydramon screamed in pain as a stream of fire course through her body like an electrical current. She screamed in agony as streams of fire lit up her body.  
"No!" Kari shouted, "Holydramon! No! Fight her!"  
"I'm...trying..." she replied.  
Lilithmon smiled wickedly as she pushed her claws deeper into Holydramon's skin, which only increased the fire current coursing through her body.  
Sora was laughing mercilessly as her digimon was slowly killing Kari's digimon. She was laughing so hard, that she did not notice Holydramon slowly lift her tail. She quickly wrapped it around the demon woman's leg and slammed her into the ground.  
Holydramon started breathing heavily as the pain subsided. "If you keep this up, you're going to lose," Kari said, "Please.".  
Sora clenched her fist. "Lilithmon, take her down, now!"  
Kari clenched her own fists, letting her anger take control of her. "I guess if I want to get through to you, I'll have to do it the hard way!" she shouted, running forward. She and Sora began to trade punches, just as their digimon were battling above them Kari brought her foot around and kicked Sora in the side, just as Holydramon whacked Lilithmon with her tail. Sora retaliated by punching Kari in the face, just as Lilithmon pounded Holydramon's nose with her claws. While Kari was recovering, Sora brought both her fists together down onto Kar's back, sending her to her knees. Lilithmon had jumped behind Holydramon and executed her Phantom Pain attack in the dragon's back.  
Kari recovered quickly and grabbed both of Sora's hands, pulling them behind her back. "I guess if I want to convince you, I'll have to do it the hard way! Sora, listen to me, remember when we first learned about our crests' powers? You told me that you couldn't have the Crest of Love, because you didn't know what love was? But you were wrong!"

The red-headed girl blinked a few times. "I…I…I remember….No! No!"

She broke out of Kari's grip and pointed at Lilithmon. "Kill Holydramon! Kill Kari! Kill them now!"

The demon woman screamed in anger and began to slash Holydramon repeatedly and with her outstretched claws. She attacked with such ferocity and rage that the dragon could not even defend herself before Lilithmon threw her into the ground. She landed before Kari and quickly returned to her Rookie form of Salamon.

"No!" Kari shouted. She ran over to her partner and hugged her tightly. "Salamon…Salamon!"

Her crest suddenly began to glow a bright pink. _She was soon encased in void of darkness, with an unfamiliar crest hovered above him. A symbol was engraved on it, one that resembled a bright pink star. "A crest? But, what is it?" Se suddenly remembered when she was in the Dark Ocean, when the D-reaper forced her to remember her previous life's death, and the crest that appeared when she needed it. She reached up and touched the crest, which exploded in light._

She was back in true reality, staring at the new crest in her hands. "My Crest of Courage has become the Crest of Light." She stared at Sora, "I don't want to do this, but you forced me to! Salamon!"

**Kari's digivice fired a beam of pink light into Salamon. The puppy digimon executed a back flip before jutting her head forward, a stream of gold energy flowing from her body. **

** "Salamon warp-digivolve to…"**

** The stream of ypink energy continued to flow until Gatomon became visible. The cat digimon turned slightly and screamed, sending another stream of pink energy forward. This time, Angewomon appeared in the stream. The angelic woman digimon turned her head to the sky as another stream of pink energy flowed into a slightly larger winged figure. A set of metal armor began to form over her body, flowing like liquid metal. Metal wings grew from her back and she formed seven small balls in his cupped hands which she shot forward.**

** "…Ophanimon!"**

Sora smirked. "Well, just because you've got a new form, doesn't mean you're any stronger. Lilithmon!"

"Ophanimon," Kari smiled, "You've got the power, now use it."

The demon woman shot forward, spreading her claws before her. The angel woman flew to meet her, and the two exploded in battle. Lilithmon was using her claws in an attempt to rip the armor off of Ophanimon, but the angelic warrior was surprisingly good at fighting with her fists, and began to knock the devil back. Lilithmon spun around in the sky, striking Ophanimon with her legs. The angel was thrown back, but continued to stay afloat.

Sora looked down from the battle and stared at Kari. She was so determined to save this world, so courageous. It was going to be a shame to destroy her. "Lilithmon, end this!"

The devil woman smirked and the claws on her hands grew even longer. She propelled forward like a cannonball, aiming directly for Ophanimon's heart. The angel woman remained clam and placed the palms of her hands together, creating a group of small glowing objects, which she sent forward with a small push of her hands.

"Sefirot Crystals!"

"Ophanimon!" Kari shouted.

Sora shot her gaze back at the brown-haired girl. She did not seem as worried as her cry made her seem, she actually looked…confident? Yes, she was sure she would win. As Sora stared at her face, she noticed something familiar. Her face, specifically her eyes, they were identical to….Tai.

"Lilithmon!" Sora screamed, "Stop! Stop your attack!"

If the devil woman was surprised, she did not show it. Instead, she executed a flip in the air, before landing beside her partner. Ophanimon's crystal attack smashed into a mountain in the distance, and smoke could be seen.

Kari stared at Sora and Lilithmon. "W…why did you do that?" she asked as Ophanimon landed behind her.

Sora continued to stare at the ground before finally looking up at the brown-haired girl. "You are Tai. You really are," she looked away, "So, what does that make Lord Taichi? What does that make me?"

"I don't know," Kari said, "But if you help us, we can find out, together."

Sora hesitated then smiled, nodding. "Okay."

"Please, tell us," she said, "Who is Kimeramon? Why are you guys so eager to protect him?"

"We want to protect Kimeramon because of the power he has. He could destroy both the Digital World AND Earth."

"But who is he?"

"Kimeramon is…" Suddenly, Sora began to gasp for breath. She clutched her throat, wheezing and coughing.

"Sora!" Kari shouted, "What's wrong?"

"Look at Lilithmon!" Ophanimon exclaimed.

The devil woman appeared to be having spasms as her body twisted and turned before she fell to the ground. As for Sora, she began to shake as well, until her face twisted into a dark smile.

"Sora?" Kari questioned, slightly backing up. When the redhead began to speak, it was in a different voice.

"I'm afraid Sora was never really here," the voice said. It was deeper, definitely a male voice, and a familiar one.

"Taichi?" Kari asked.

Sora smirked. "Yes, that's right, I had been monitoring your battle, and now I am in completely control of this body." She began to move her arms in a strange fashion, before bringing up her finger and shaking it, "Shame on you, little Kari, trying to turn one of my soldiers against me. "

Kari clenched her fists. "Where's Sora?"

"Like I said, she was never here at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll know soon. As the time of the ascendancy is upon us, for when the Dark God returns, all of the Digital World will be ours!" Sora laughed again, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Sora!" Kari shouted, running towards her. She stopped and stared wide-eyed as the Digidestined and her partner began to dissolve, like digimon losing their data at death. The brown-haired girl stared at the red-head and the demon's data was shattered to the wind.

"What just happened?" Ophanimon asked, "Sora deleted like a digimon."

"I…I don't know," Kari said, "All we've got is more questions, but I do know one thing, Taichi, and whoever this Dark God is, are going to pay!"

_Preview: _

_The Digidestined, almost completely out of time, move towards the Center of the Digital World, where they hope to download the basic programming of the land. However, Myotismon and Kimeramon appear, as well as the remaining Dark Gods! Meanwhile, Ken, Cody, Yuehon, Derek and Kari continued their search for Ladydevimon? What secrets does she hold?_

_Next: " Apocalypse: Heart of the Digital World" A Dark God has been reborn._


	27. APOCALYPSE: Heart of the Digital World

APOCALYPSE: Heart of the Digital World

Tk removed his hat and ran a hand through his blond hair. He placed a pair of binoculars to his eyes as he propped one knee on a large boulder in front of him. Stretched out before him was a city, well, what was _once_ a city, now only an area of destruction and death. It looked like the city was a derelict from centuries long past, however, the blond-haired young man knew that this city was a functioning metropolis only days before.

He sighed and let the binoculars dangle from his neck. "Anything?"

He shook his head and turned to face a braided-haired girl walking towards him. At her feet was a frog creature, while a pig/bat creature rested on Tk's head. "No, nothing."

Tatum walked past him to stare at the desert, barren except for the derelict city. "This is where they saw Devimon digivolve into Ladydevimon."

"So why are we still here?" Patamon whined, "Ladydevimon left."

"They don't know where they went," Tatum's Betamon responded, "Then the evil Sora showed up, they completely lost sight of her."

Patamon yawned. "I'm still tired!"

Tatum glanced at her watch. "He's right, you know, we've been here for hours."

Tk nodded and turned towards her. "Yeah, I don't think…" He suddenly shot his head back around. "It's her!"

The other three focused on the city below and could clearly see a black dot flying out of the dead city. Patamon jumped off of Tk's head and was enveloped by a bright light.

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon!"

The angel digimon shot towards the city while Tk charged after him. "Tatum, come on!"

The braided-haired girl nodded. Her Betamon digivolved to Sand Yanmamon and flew after Angemon. She took a deep breath and quickly followed.

"_Ladydevimon,"_ she thought, "_This is so strange, everything has unraveled so quickly and fast. This whole thing started when the original Digidestined were killed during their fight with Apocalymon. Something happened during that fight, and they were all given a second chance at life by being reincarnated. Kari Kamiya, the sister of Taichi Kamiya, was brought to the Digital World by Geni to fight a threat called the Digimon Emperor. She was given the task of finding the reincarnation of the Digidestined and given the Crest of Courage. Despite repeated attacks by the Digimon Emperor, she found that the reborn Izzy Izumi was Ken Ichijoji, Sora Takenouchi was Yolei Inoe, the Digimon Emperor was Tk Takashi, the reincarnation of Yamato Ishida, and Kari herself was Taichi. They were joined by Cody Hida and Davis Motomiya, non-reincarnated, but Digidestined all the same. The surprised didn't end there, the Emperor created a digimon called Kimeramon. Davis and Veemon, who armor digivolved to Magnamon and defeated the synthetic digimon. During that battle, Kari defeated the Digimon Emperor and freed him from the Crest of Abandonment, which became the Crest of Friendship. I then finally appeared and gave to Tk the Holy Sword, while Ryo told Kari about the location of her Holy Weapon, the Holy Lances. It was hard for them to believe, but the Digimon Emperor was the least of their worries, Dark SEED was here._

_Hiroshi with his Crest of Spirit and partner Penmon, leader of Dark SEED brutally attacked the Digital World in order to destroy the Destiny Stones. One by one the Destiny Stones were destroyed while the Digidestined dealt with the problems of their previous lives, romantic feelings towards each other, especially the love triangle between Kari, Tk and Yolei. Kari, Tk and Davis mastered their Holy Weapons and marched to stop Dark SEED, who had already destroyed all of the Elemental Destiny Stones. They were too late. The seal around the Digital World broke and Myotismon, who had been trapped there for years, broke free. The Digidestined and I apprehended Hiroshi, his servant Yuehon and Myotismon and were bringing them to Geni when we got pulled into another dimension, the Dark Ocean._

_Inside, we were joined by Digidestined from another dimension, called Tamers. Takato, Rika and Henry were in the Dark Ocean to stop someone called Oikawa from releasing __D-reaper. Our digimon digivolved to their mega levels, all dragon digimon but D-reaper was released, bonding to a young girl named Jeri, the love interest of Takato. The two sacrificed themselves to stop the __D-reaper once and for all._

_When we returned to the Digital World, we were horrified to find that Kimeramon had been reformatted and destroyed the remaining Destiny Stones, turning the Digital World in a dying wasteland. To make matters worse, the Cult of Darkness decreed that Kimeramon was under their protection, and the leaders of the Cult were, all appearances to the contrary, were the original Digidestined! Hiroshi's Crest of Spirit became the Crest of Fate and Penmon warp digivolved to Pukumon, while Tk's Crest of Friendship became the Crest of Hope and Patamon warp digivolved to Seraphymon, and Kari's Crest of Courage changed to the Crest of Light and Plotmon warp digivolved to Ophanimon. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Devimon portion of Kimeramon separated from the rest, and digivolved to Ladydevimon, while Myotismon teamed up with Kimeramon! I don't know what villainy is a work here, but I feel it will soon reveal itself, and I fear both worlds may be at risk!"_

"Tatum, you still with me?"

She blinked a few times, realizing that Tk was shouting to her. "Sorry, what is it?"

He pointed to the sky. "They're moving!"

She turned to the sky and watched as her Sand Yanmamon head butted Ladydevimon in the stomach. She lurched back and Angemon took the opening to shoot up from underneath and smash the end of his staff into her chin. She flipped over in the air, but grabbed the same staff and used her momentum to fling Angemon far behind her.

"Angemon!" Tk shouted.

The angel digimon straightened himself and flew back to engage the devil woman. Sand Yanmamon began to flag his wings at a fantastic rate, creating a loud buzzing noise. "Desert Wind!" A fierce gale of sand and arid wind sliced across Ladydevimon's face. Angemon attacked her in the back with a quick kick. She executed another back-flip, bringing them further away from the airspace over the city.

"Where's she going?" Tatum questioned.

The two Digidestined ran as fast as they could in order to catch up with the battle. Their partners had stopped over a canyon, very deep and wide. At one time it was no doubt a flowing river, but after the destruction of the Destiny Stone of Water and the northern turtle god Ebonwumon's Destiny Stone, the rivers and oceans of the Digital World had quickly dried up. This canyon, however, still had a river at the very bottom, not deep, but a river nonetheless.

Ladydevimon suddenly started attacking at full speed. She grabbed Angemon by the blue sash wrapped around his body and pulled down as hard as she could, which sent him smashing into Sand Yanmamon. The devil woman then spun around in the air, striking both digimon multiple times. "Come on!" she laughed, "You aren't even trying!"

Tk turned to Tatum and reached for his digivice. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Ready."

The two Digidestined threw their hands into the air as their digivices began to beep and flash with activity. "Now!"

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

"Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachiomon!"

The devil woman grinned. "There, that's better."

Magna Angemon hovered in the sky while Brachiomon, now lacking in flying power, smashed to the ground. He jutted his giant snout at Ladydevimon. "Brachio Bubbles!' He opened his mouth and let out a stream of bubbles that smacked her in the face. It did not harm her, but her vision was obscured. Magnaangemon flung around from behind and slash his sword across her back, leaving a deep scar. Surprisingly, she did not counterattack; Magna Angemon grabbed her by the wing and flung her towards his partner. Brachiomon grabbed her with his mouth and threw her into the ground.

"Something's not right," Tk said.

"What?" Tatum asked, staring at him strangely.

"She's not fighting back."

"That's just because we've got her. Don't forget, Magna Angemon's pretty strong, remember?"

Tk did not respond as he turned back to the battle. Brachiomon was now stomping on Ladydevimon with all of his might, and once again, she did not fight back. The dinosaur digimon thought that she had just given up, so he grabbed her with his mouth and flung her to Magna Angemon. "You're up! Finish her off!"

The angelic digimon ready his glowing sword. Brachiomon flung her high enough to reach him, and he easily slashed across her chest this time. She suddenly began to glow brightly, and shrink down to a smaller form, a fish-like shape.

"Coelamon?" Tk gasped.

"She _de_-digivolved!" Tatum shouted in surprise.

The other two digimon were shocked into silence and frozen in place as Coelamon bounced and leapt across the desert sand until he jumped into the canyon. Magna Angemon regained his senses and shot after him, but could not reach him before the mysterious digimon fell into the river deep at the base and vanished.

"Coelamon…" Tk said.

Tatum sighed, shaking her head. "What is going on here?"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Ken raised an eyebrow. "She _regressed?_

"That's right," Tatum said.

Ryo sighed deeply. "This mystery just grows and grows."

Hiroshi glanced at Tk. "You created him, can't you tell us anything?"

He glared at him. "I told you, I don't remember."

"Maybe there's some way to make you remember."

This time, Kari raised an eyebrow. "You have a way?"

He hesitated, then shook his head. "No, not really."

"We need a plan!" Derek shouted, pacing the floor of Geni's living room.

"There's nothing we can do about Devimon slash Ladydevimon slash Coelamon," Cody said, "Not until we know more about…them."

"He's right," Kari said, "The only thing we can do now is go to Huanglongmon's Destiny Stone and use it to download the Digital World's basic programming so when it's destroyed we can reboot it." She turned to Ryo. "You know the way, right?"

He nodded. "Of course."

She smiled and glanced towards the others, "Well, it there isn't any objections?"

They all shook their heads.

She turned to Ryo, "Well, let's go."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Myotismon crossed his arms as stood atop one of the many cracking and crumbling mountains that now comprised the Digital World. "The Destiny Stones are gone," he said," and with them went all nutrients and energy, the heart and soul of the Digital World, gone. Now, it is doomed to wither and decay, gradually crumbling to dust, and all who are on it will vanish as well."

He glanced to his cape, which remained still at his side. He frowned. "Even the wind has vanished, how much longer before our air is gone too?"

When he did not receive a reply, he glanced over his shoulder. The massive creature Kimeramon was staring into the dull blue sky. The vampire lord floated over. "What are you looking at?" He followed the synthetic digimon's gaze and saw a caravan of images flying across the sky. The vampire lord's eyes shot open. "The Digidestined! Where are they going?"

He turned to Kimeramon and grinned. "What do you say, want to find out?"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The journey to the Destiny Stone of Center took the Digidestined a little over an hour, and completely over nothing but the wasteland the Digital World had become. Ken wondered how Ryo could even remember the way, it was like traveling through a desert without any tracking equipment, like a compass. Still he did not have any idea, so he trusted the younger Guardian.

"Are we almost zere?" Catherine asked. She was riding on Airdramon, along with most of the other Digidestined, except for Tk, Yolei and Ryo, who were on Aquillamon.

The Guardian scanned the ground until they passed over a massive rip in the surface of the earth, which could easily be mistaken for the Grand Canyon in America, maybe even larger. "Down there!" he shouted, "It's down there!"

"You heard him, Aquillamon," Yolei shouted.

The eagle grunted a reply and dove straight down, with Airdramon trailing directly behind. They continued diving until they could see the flat landscape, surrounded on all sides by the walls of stone. In the center of the rock-covered plain was a massive, perfectly round, floating stone.

"Is that is?" Hiroshi asked.

Ryo nodded. "Yes, that's the Stone of the Center."

Ken jumped off of Airdramon and laded perfectly on the ground. He began to examine the stone. "Where exactly are we supposed to download the program of the Digital World?"

Ryo mentioned to the bottom of the stone. "Down there you should find your access point."

Ken nodded and walked towards the stone. He was suddenly thrown back by a gust of wind. He landed on the ground and skidded directly into Cody and Armadillomon, knocking them over.

The others instantly jumped on guard. "Who's there?" Tk shouted, "Show yourself!"

Six figures appeared from behind the Destiny Stones. Three were human males, one wearing a blue trench coat, the other wearing a dark indigo coat and the last was wearing an orange trench coat, and three digimon, a monkey digimon with large bat wings, another a hideous devil and the third was an angel draped in black and white.

"The fake Yamato Ishida, Taichi Kamiya, and Koushiro Izumi," Yolei sneered.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Yamato laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Kari shouted.

Taichi grinned, "To stop you from downloading the Digital World, of course!"

"There's no way you're gonna stop us!" Davis shouted. He nodded to the other Digidestined. "Grab your digivices."

Demon placed his hands together and caused a massive spiral of flame to erupt from his hands, striking every digimon except for Kari's Salamon, Hiroshi's Penmon and Tk's Patamon.

"What did you do?" Davis demanded, running over to Veemon, who lay burned on the ground.

Yamato stared at Hiroshi with icy blue eyes. "Because, we're only interested in settling rivalries."

"That's right," Koushiro grinned, "Takashi and Hibishi will fight us, if you succeed, then you'll get to the Destiny Stone."

Taichi stared at Kari. "And you're mine, 'little sister.'

"I am NOT your little sister," she sneered.

Tatum stared at them. "You're not seriously going to fight them alone, are you?"

The brown-haired girl glanced at her. "We don't really have a choice." She turned to Davis and gave him a slight nod, then looked back at Taichi's evil stare.

The remaining Digidestined nodded at one another, then at their digimon. "Ready?" Tk asked.

"You bet!" Patamon grinned.

"Let's take care of this guy now!" Hiroshi growled.

"I'm with you," Penmon nodded.

"Salamon!" Kari shouted.

"You got it!"

"Patamon warp digivolve to…"

"Penmon warp digivolve to…"

"Salamon warp digivolve to…"

"Seraphymon!"

"Pukumon!"

"Ophanimon!"

Pukumon lead the attack by shooting forward and slamming his spiked fists into Demon's chest. The demon lord was too fast and grabbed hold of both of his hands. The giant blowfish pointed the giant spikes on his back to Demon's chest and sent them into his chest and stomach like a dozen missiles at close range. Demon roared in pain and stumbled back. Pukumon executed an uppercut and then struck him across the chest again. Demon was finally able to get a good hit in when he slammed his knee into Pukumon's underside, and then whacked him on both sides with his hands.

Seraphymon, meanwhile, was attacking an angel filled with both light and dark. The armored angel placed his palms together and fired out seven small diamonds. "Strike of the Seven Stars!"

Lucemon Falldown Mode crossed his arms in front of his face as the spikes of energy smashed into his forearms, protecting his face. He parted his arms so Seraphymon could see his grinning face. "Sorry, you'll have to do better then that!"

He shot forward at an incredible speed and began pounding the other angel digimon with his fists at a fantastic rate. "Paradise Lost Punch!"

Tk's digimon swung his fist and punched Lucemon hard in the side of the face, then swung around in a roundhouse, slamming Lucemon's already injured face with his feet. The black and white digimon twisted in the air, striking Seraphymon on the underside of his chin.

Despite being the Demon Lord of Sloth, Belphemon moved with near incredible speed as he match each and every one of Ophanimon's jabs. Neither opponent spoke, but continued to viciously fight, while their partners stared at one another.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to Sora," she said, her brown eyes filled with rage.

Taichi chuckled as he mentioned to Yolei, who was standing on the sidelines with the other Digidestined, "_That _is Sora, the person you fought was not."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

He smirked.

"Damn it!" she swore, surprising everyone present, "I'm getting tired of everyone holding information over my head! If you have something to you want to tell me then tell me, or shut up about it!"

Taichi started to laugh. "I see I've struck a nerve."

She clenched her fist tightly. "Shut up!"

His laughter died down. "Oh, very well, if you're so interested…besides, it's not like it really matters anyway." His grin remained, "Sora, Yamato, Koushiro and the others, we are you, more specifically, just your bodies."

Kari gasped. "W..what?"

"After your deaths at the hands of Apocalymon, your bodies were left floating in the void he created. Our evil god breathed life into them, creating us. So you see, I _am_ Taichi Kamiya, if only his body."

Kari gasped. "I…I…"

"Our evil god gave us the Demon Lords as our partners, and we became his top lieutenants. Our mission was to secure his resurrection, taking direct action only if necessary. And the pieces came together on there own, just perfectly."

Kari shook her head. "Evil god?"

"That's right, one that has the power over time and reality! His power alone can destroy this entire world! Of course, while the Destiny Stones still cast their holy seal over the Digital World, he couldn't be revived, thus, the destruction of those stones were necessary."

The other Digidestined were staring at the three fights occurring at once. "Are we just going to stand here?" Cody gasped.

Davis turned to the others and whispered. "I think Kari wants us to complete our mission while they keep them busy, at least, that's what I think from the way she nodded at me. " He looked at Ken and Ryo. "Ready?"

"Um..ah..yeah, alright," Ken said.

"Get your laptop ready," Ryo ordered. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small box with a USB connector attached.

"What's that?" Wormmon asked.

"An external hard drive," Ryo explained, "The Digital World's programming should fit onto this, providing it's compressed."

Ken nodded as he attached the device to his laptop. He glanced at the fighters, none of them had even glanced in his direction since the fight began. He took a deep breath and took and walked towards the bottom of the hovering Destiny Stone. There he found an internet outlet, which he hooked into.

"Wow, this is pretty amazing," he said, staring at the lines and lines of computer programming dancing across his screen, "The entire Digital World, reduced to simples zeroes and ones…"

"Ken, I think you'd better hurry!" Tatum shouted.

"Oh, right, sorry." He quickly began downloading and compressing the data. "Let's just hope this is fast enough."

Demon fired another Flame Inferno into Pukumon, who screamed in agony. Despite the pain, he managed to fly through the flame and strike the demon with his spiked fists, tearing the fur and flesh from his hand. The demon moaned, but was still able to use his other fist to smash Pukumon's face.

Yamato roared with laughter. "You digimon is getting the crap beaten out of him! Just give up before it's too late."

"Same here," Koushiro frowned, mentioning to Lucemon who was repeatedly pounding against Seraphymon's armored chest, which was began to crack. "This is no challenge at all, not to someone of my level."

Hiroshi growled and clenched his fists tightly. He watched as Pukumon was repeatedly punched, kicked and attacked again and again. "I've had enough of this!" He reached behind and pulled out the Holy Trident from the holster on his back. "Takashi!"

The blond boy nodded and pulled out the Holy Sword from his holster. "Alright, let's see if this'll work."

Both Digidestined pointed their weapons at their digimon. The two gold weapons glowed bright and fired a beam of light that struck the back of their partners. Both human and digimon were pulled towards one another and exploded in light. Human and digimon were fused into one being: Tk/Seraphymon looked exactly like Tk, except with large white wings, wearing Seraphymon's armor, and carrying the Holy Sword at his side. Hiroshi/Pukumon was similar to Hiroshi, but with black spikes on his back and hands. He carried the Holy Trident in his hands.

"Interesting," Koushiro said, "But that alone won't save you! Get him Lucemon!"

Yamato pointed at his opponent. "Finish him off!"

The two demon digimon charged forward, roaring with pride and rage. The light and dark angel readied his fist. "Paradise Lost Punch!"

Tk/Seraphymon easily stepped aside, allowing Lucemon's own momentum to pass him. The human/digimon attacked with his sword, slicing the demon in half. He screamed before vanishing.

"No!" Koushiro shouted, running forward, "Lucemon!"

Tk/Seraphymon pointed his outstretched palm at the god of darkness. "Strike of the Seven Stars!" Koushiro tried to move out of the way, but he was simply not fast enough. He vanished in a burst of light.

Demon was not aware of the destruction of his fellow Demon Lord. He charged at Hiroshi/Pukumon at full strength. The human/digimon grinned and jabbed his spiked fist at the demon's stomach. "Take this!" His hand went straight through Demon's chest and out his back.

Yamato's eyes bulged open at the sight before him. "Demon!" he screamed in rage, "I'll kill you for that!" He charged towards Demon's back at full speed. He did not see Hiroshi/Pukumon swing his Holy Trident, sending a wave of energy that tore through Demon, deleting him instantly. The wave contained, slicing Yamato in half. Surprisingly, his body vanished in the same explosion of data that followed all digimon's deaths.

Both human/digimon fusions glowed brightly before returning to their human and

In-training digimon components. On the other side of the canyon, Kari turned to Taichi. "Your soldiers are gone."

"They're not needed anymore, and soon, neither will we," he said, mentioning to Belphemon, who was still fighting Ophanimon.

"What are you talking about!" she screamed.

Taichi mentioned to the sky. Kari turned around and gasped. The vampire lord Myotismon was diving towards the Destiny Stone of the Center with Kimeramon trailing right behind.

Down below, Ken triumphantly closed his laptop. "Done, finally!" He jumped to his feet and was half way back to the other Digidestined when a stream of red light struck the ground before him. He fell onto his rear and stared at the sky. "M…Myotismon!"

"And Kimeramon!" Derek shouted.

Taichi grinned. "They're finally here."

Kari stared at him. "You were expecting them?"

"They had to show themselves eventually, and while I wasn't expecting Myotismon to be in the mix, I found the perfect place for him."

Kari narrowed her eyes at him.

The vampire lord glanced around. "So, this is where everyone has been hiding, huh?"

"You're one to talk!" Catherine muttered.

Myotismon just shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" Kari demanded.

"Let me be blunt, this world isn't going to last much longer, and I want a free ticket to the human world."

"Forget it!" Davis shouted, "There's no way!"

"You don't seem to understand," he said, opening his palms, "You're going to tell me, even if I have to beat it out of you!" He glanced over at Taichi and Belphemon, "And you're one of the Gods of Darkness, I take it? Well, we'll talk later, right now I have some information I'll need to extract from the Digidestined!"

Suddenly, the entire canyon began to shake. "What's going on?" Yuehon shouted.

"Earthquake?" Derek suggested.

A section of the canyon wall burst apart as a stream of water exploded forth, carrying with it a fossil-like digimon.

"Coelamon?" Derek's Crabmon asked.

"Coelamon!" Tk gasped, "That's the one Ladydevimon…"

The Coelamon rode the stream of water towards the canyon floor. His body began to glow brightly. "Coelamon digivolve to Megadramon!"

The newly digivolved digimon hovered in the air and pointed the gun barrels that comprised his arms towards the canyon floor. "Darkside Attack!"

Davis stared at the two large missiles heading straight for them. "Hit the ground!" The Digidestined and their digimon complied, falling on their stomachs and covering their heads with their hands. Surprisingly, the two missiles shot right over their heads and struck their true target, Myotismon.

The vampire lord was thrown back, passing by Kimeramon, who continued to hover mindless in the air. He forced himself to stop and went to stare at his attacker, but only saw another twin set of missiles crash into him. He struggled to execute his Crimson Lightning attack, but two more missiles ripped across him.

The Digidestined stared in disbelief. "I…don't believe this!" Tatum gasped.

"What is going on here?" Tk demanded.

Myotismon managed to doge one of the sets of missiles and headed towards his attacker, but Megadramon appeared behind him and fired another Darkside Attack directly into his back. Before the vampire lord smash into the ground, Megadramon embrace his opponent in a bear hug. He began to glow brightly once again. "Megadramon…"

"He's digivolving!" Ken shouted, "But what does he need Myotismon for?"

"A DNA digivolution," Ryo said, "It needs two digimon to digivolve together into a higher form, but I thought that form was extinct."

"Well, I don't think Myotismon's going to cooperate," Veemon added.

The vampire lord struggled against Megadramon's grasp. "No…I…I refuse…"

Megadramon continued to glow. "You don't have a choice. No offense, but I just need an Ultimate digimon, and you were in the right place at the right time. Megadramon…"

Myotismon struggled as hard as he could, but he could not resist. "M..M..Myotismon…"

"…DNA digivolve to…Machinedramon!"

"Machindramon!" Ryo shouted, "No…it…it can't be!" He turned to the Digidestined, "Stop him, stop him now!"

"What are you talking about?" Yolei asked.

"You have to destroy him, destroy Machinedramon!"

"Why?"

"There's no time, do it!"

"We can't!" Catherine shouted, "In case you haven't noticed, our digimon are all injured from Demon's attack!"

"The entire Digital World is at stake!" Ryo screamed, "Do something!"

"Ophanimon!" Kari shouted. Her angelic partner nodded and flew towards Machinedramon, who was still hovering in the air. She placed her palms together, prepared to execute one of her attacks, but Machinedramon demonstrated surprising speed. He pointed the two cannons on his back towards the angel woman and fired a barrage of bats.

"Grisly Wing!"

"He's using Myotismon's attacks!" Ken gasped.

The bats flew in front of Ophanimon's eyes, obstructing her vision. She desperately tried to swat them away, but they were like gnats, continually hovering around her face. This gave Machinedramon the freedom to float even higher into the air, heading towards the mindless Kimeramon.

Taichi grinned. "Yes, finally!"

"No!" Ryo shouted, "No!"

Tk ran over to the Guardian. "Ryo, what's going on!"

He shot his head to stare him straight in the eye. "Machinedramon and Kimeramon fuse together to create a god digimon!" He turned back to the sky, "This is it, we're doomed."

Machinedramon flew straight at the hovering synthetic digimon. To the Digidestined, it was like watching two puzzle pieces fitting together, Machinedramon flowed so perfectly into Kimeramon that there was not a trace of him left. Kimeramon crashed to the ground as his entire body began to pulse with energy, sending bolts of dark lighting crashing in all directions. The light intensified until it completely enveloped him, creating a dome of supreme black light that pulled the remaining light of the Digital World towards it.

"It's all over," Ryo said "We're too late!"

"What?" Kari asked, pointing towards the globe, "What's in there!"

Ryo sighed. "It's the enemy I had to face when I was first called into the Digital World, my partner, the evil god digimon…"

He stared at the black globe.

"…Millenniumon."

_Preview:_

_Millenniumon, the god of evil, has been reborn! The monster that nearly killed Ryo and almost destroyed the Digital World once before is back. The Digidestined have face powerful foes again and again, but do they have what it takes to face a god?_

_Next, "Apocalypse: Dark God Reborn," The end of the Digital World is here_

Author's note: In case you're wondering how Myotismon and Megadramon make Machinedramon, according to the Digimon Encyclopedia, one of the evolutionary requirements for Machinedramon is Megadramon plus any ultimate Digimon.


	28. APOCALYPSE: God of Darkness

Tk here. Last time, Tatum and I fought against Ladydevimon, and Angemon and Sand Yanmamon's attacks made her de-digivolve to a new champion form, Coelamon and escaped. We joined up with the rest of the Digidestineds and Ryo led us to the Destiny Stone of the Center so we could download the Digital World before it gets destroyed. We were attacked by the last of the evil Digidestined plus Myotismon. Coelamon showed up and digivolved to Megadramon and forced a DNA digivolution with Myotismon and became Machinedramon! Ryo told us to destroy him, but we couldn't before he fused with Kimeramon! Now according to Ryo, the evil god Milleniummon will be brought back!

APOCALYPSE: God of Darkness

"Ophanimon!" Kari shouted. Her angelic partner nodded and flew towards Machinedramon, who was still hovering in the air. She placed her palms together, prepared to execute one of her attacks, but Machinedramon demonstrated surprising speed. He pointed the two cannons on his back towards the angel woman and fired a barrage of bats.

"Grisly Wing!"

"He's using Myotismon's attacks!" Ken gasped.

The bats flew in front of Ophanimon's eyes, obstructing her vision. She desperately tried to swat them away, but they were like gnats, continually hovering around her face. This gave Machinedramon the freedom to float even higher into the air, heading towards the mindless Kimeramon.

Taichi grinned. "Yes, finally!"

"No!" Ryo shouted, "No!"

Tk ran over to the Guardian. "Ryo, what's going on!"

He shot his head to stare him straight in the eye. "Machinedramon and Kimeramon fuse together to create a god digimon!" He turned back to the sky, "This is it, we're doomed."

Machinedramon flew straight at the hovering synthetic digimon. To the Digidestined, it was like watching two puzzle pieces fitting together, Machinedramon flowed so perfectly into Kimeramon that there was not a trace of him left. Kimeramon crashed to the ground as his entire body began to pulse with energy, sending bolts of dark lighting crashing in all directions. The light intensified until it completely enveloped him, creating a dome of supreme black light that pulled the remaining light of the Digital World towards it.

"It's all over," Ryo said "We're too late!"

"What?" Kari asked, pointing towards the globe, "What's in there!"

Ryo sighed. "It's the enemy I had to face when I was first called into the Digital World, my partner, the evil god digimon…"

He stared at the black globe.

"…Millenniumon."

"Who's Millenniumon!" Davis shouted.

He sighed. "When I first entered the Digital World, it was because a god-type digimon was running out of control, it's name was Millenniumon. It took everything me and the other Digidestined I came here with to stop him…most of them didn't make it. We stopped him! I killed him myself!." He continued to stare at the black sphere, "But if he's returned….this is the end of all of us."

"No way!" Veemon shouted, "We'll stop him, no matter what he throws at us!"

"I'm afraid he's right," Taichi laughed, "Millenniumon is quite unstoppable, and I'll sit at his right hand, as the lord of the Digital World!"

"No!" Kari shouted, "I won't let that happen!" She twirled to her partner, "Ophanimon!"

The angelic female digimon nodded. "You got it Kari!" She jumped into the air and shot towards the glowing sphere. She held her open palms together, creating seven small crystals, which she shot forward into the sphere. "Sefirot Crystal!"

The seven glowing shards impacted the side, and hovered into the swirling mess of blackness. They continued to float for another few seconds before they were shot back, striking the female digimon, regressing her back to Salamon, who fell into Kari's arms.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I tried."

Kari did not respond, only stared at the swirling sphere. The blackness, which had been twirling at a steady pace, now suddenly intensified, pulling towards the center before exploding in a mix of darkness and light. All of the witnesses had to avert their gaze; when they looked back, they were shocked to see a massive digimon standing before them. It was similar to Kimeramon, except for an almost transparent image of Machinedramon hovering on his back.

"Ryo?" Tk asked.

The Guardian nodded. "Y..yeah, that's him."

Millenniumon stared into the sky of the Digital World, completely unmoving. "What's with him?" Yolei asked.

Taichi and Demon walked over and bowed before him. "Lord Millenniumon, we are here to serve you."

The god digimon continued to stare into the sky. "Lord Millenniumon?" Taichi asked, "I have done exactly as you commanded me to do! I followed your will exactly! I made certain that no one harmed you while still in your Kimeramon form. If it wasn't for me, you would have been killed by the Digidestined! You need me!"

Millenniumon slowly gazed at him. "Yes!" Taichi shouted, "I made the Digital World ready for your revival, filling it with darkness and hate and war! I did everything for you! Where is my reward?"

The god digimon suddenly shot his arms around Taichi and Demon. Both struggled against him, but it was no use at all. "Lord Millenniumon! Why?"

"**_Let's be certain of one thing,"_** he said, "**_I don't need anyone!"_** He opened his jaw wide and with simple ease ingested both Taichi and Demon.

"Oh my god!" Tatum gasped, "He…he ate him…"

Milleniumon used his giant legs to push himself into the air and floated into the sky. He twisted his body so that his two back-based cannons were pointing at them.

"What's he doing?" Hiroshi demanded.

"He's gonna attack!" Derek shouted.

"No, wait," Yuehon said, "He's not aiming at us…"

"The Destiny Stone!" Ken shouted.

"We've got to stop him!" Salamon shouted, jumping out of her partner's arms, "Digidestined, digivolve us! Now!"

"You heard her," Kari ordered, "Get ready!"

Each Digidestined reached for their digivices and held them pointed towards the assembled digimon. "All right," Kari said, "Ready…..Now!"

Before even the smallest amount of energy could flow through the digivice, Millenniumon attacked. He fired two massive balls of yellow light from his cannons that struck the Destiny Stone of the Center with such precision and force that it shattered with ease.

"No!" Ryo shouted.

"He…he destroyed it!" Catherine shouted, "It's over?"

"Never say that!" Floramon shouted, "It's never over!"

The force of the explosion created a storm of wind that billowed in all directions, as well as the light continued to grow. "That's not right!" Ken shouted to be heard over the roar of the wind, "That explosion wasn't that big…"

"The Digital World is detonating," Ryo explained, "And there's no time; I'd say we have seconds before the end."

Before anyone could reply, the ground beneath them started to disappear, like a ripple affect from the center. The Digidestined tried to run, but the wave of destruction was moving at a fantastic rate, easily passing them. They were thrown in all directions as the Digital World crumbled around them; before being completely enveloped by the light of the Destiny Stone's explosion.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei blinked a few times before realization dawned on her. "I'm alive?" She had been lying down, so she sat straight up and patted her chest and legs. "I'm alive! Oh thank god, I'm al…al…" She suddenly started glancing around, "Hawkmon? Tk? Kari? Ken? Guys, is anyone…!"

"Behind you."

The purple-haired girl spun around and was relieved to see that the other members of the Digidestined were standing safely behind her, actually, they could not tell if they were standing, as darkness flowed all around them.

"Where the hell are we?" Hiroshi asked.

"The Digital World was destroyed," Cody said, "Is this the void that was left?"

"I don't think so," Tatem said, glancing around, "There's air here, so we have to be _somewhere_, but _where_ is the question."

Ken thought for a moment. "Well, if the destruction of the Digital World was powerful enough, it could have caused a dimensional rift which sent us to another world."

"What world?" Hiroshi asked, "The world where Myotismon was trapped."

"It's possible, but there are countless dimensions, who knows if it's the same one?"

"So," Kari asked, "Where are we?"

The darkness was suddenly destroyed as light streamed in from nowhere and everywhere. The Digidestined could now see the world they were occupying; a strange castle, filled with darkness, and the very air seemed thick and hung. Catherine gasped in amazement. "Iz zis…ze Dark Ocean?""

"I think you're right!" Kari exclaimed, "It's the Sovereigns' Castle! But…but it was destroyed! I watched it happen!"

"Sovereigns Castle?" Ryo asked, "You mean, Azulgonmon?"

Kari nodded. "But, Jeri used explosives to detonate it from inside."

"Regular explosives?"

"Yeah, that's right," Salamon said, "Why?"

He shook his head. "If this castle was made by the gods, something made by mortals couldn't destroy it."

"But…"

"Maybe it did get destroyed, but I'm sure it healed itself, trust me."

"All right," Tk said, "But what are we doing here?"

"We must have gotten sent here after the Digital World was destroyed," Ken said. His eyes suddenly lit up, "Kari, do you still have the Key Cards?"

The brown-haired girl slowly shook her head. "N..No, they're in a safe back in my room."

"Could you check?"

She reached into the pockets of her yellow shorts and all the color drained from her face. She pulled out the familiar deck of cards that could bend dimensions. "But…how..?"

"They're yours," Ryo said, "When the Digital World detonated, you might have subconsciously called to them, they probably sent us here."

She did not answer, only continued to stare at them.

"Hey," Derek said, "Where's Millenniumon?"

Crabmon slowly glanced over his shoulder and screamed. "Behind us!"

The Digidestined all jumped and twisted in the air so they could see the god digimon behind them. He stared down at them, while the nearly-transparent Machinedramon cannon hovered on his back. He should not have been able to fit into the halls, but he did not seem to have any problem. He had not shrunk, nor had the walls grown. "**I see the vermin survived."**

"Vermin?" Davis shouted, "Come down here and say that!"

"**I'm afraid I'd strain my back trying to reach you all the way down there."**

Davis was about to grab his digivice, but Kari stepped in front of him. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

He smiled. "**To remake the Digital World in my own image!"**

"Why?"

"**Because it has grown stale and repetitive, it needs to be cleansed and remade."**

"With you as the ruler, right?" Tatem asked.

He grinned. "**That goes without saying. **

"But you came from Kimeramon," Tk said.

"**And you created Kimeramon as the Digimon Emperor, yes, I understand. I was stopped by Ryo and his first Digidestined, they defeated me and scattered my data to the winds, but I endured! My spirit influenced certain digimon to create a body for me, one of those must have been Etemon, and you, as Yamato Ishida, was infected from his Dark Network, which surfaced when you were reborn. That information from the Dark Network contained the blueprints, as it was, for building a Kimeramon. When that digimon existed, I simply flowed into the shell, and thus, the stage was set."**

"What about the Gods of Darkness?" Yolei asked.

"**Servants, nothing more. Their mission was to protect Kimeramon and sow the seeds of darkness in the Digital World, allowing me the freedom to exist once more!"** He turned his head towards the sky, "**And now with the Digital World gone, I need only destroy Earth! And once that planet is gone, I will create a new world, one I will rule over for all eternity!"** He sighed, "**Of course, even as mighty as I will become, mastery of all reality still escapes me; the power to remake existence will only be mine when the Key Cards are mine! With them, I will be able to open a gate to the human world itself! I will destroy it! And then, I will remake all reality!"**

"What?" Kari gasped, "Well, I'm not letting you near them!"

He chuckled. "**You seem to think that you have a choice. I will steal them from your cold, dead fingers! I will not be denied my destiny!"**

"There's no way that's gonna happen!" Kari shouted, "Grab your digivices and we'll stop him now!"

The digimon readied themselves to attack, but Ryo suddenly stepped in front of them. He did not acknowledge them, but only stared at Millenniumon. The dark god stared down at him in return. "**So, Ryo, you remain here. I thought that you had gone back to Earth, like the rest of your vermin."**

"Those were my friends," he said, "And you killed them!"

"**I had to, they were keeping you from me."**

"I don't care what you say, I'm not your partner, and I won't be!"

"You're his partner?" Davis asked.

"It's too long a story," Ryo sighed, "Just know that I was brought to the Digital World to stop him, but then found out that he was always meant to be my partner. I had to chose between stopping him and accepting him. I chose to destroy him."

The dark god growled in anger. "**Well, now I destroy you!"** He fired a blast of energy from his twin canons, smashing into Ryo, vaporizing him instantly.

"Ryo!" Kari shouted. She glared at Millenniumon. "How could you…?"

Millenniumon raised his hands. Suddenly, a strange black mist shot up from their feet and enveloped them. They tried to call out to each other, or at the least, grab hold of one another, but it was no use. The Digidestined were trapped in the darkness.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari/Angewomon hovered in the air over Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, giving her an advantage. She held her Holy Lances above her head, making it glow a bright white light. She stared at Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, standing on the ground, staring back at her. Kari/Angewomon swung her lances down, sending a crescent beam of light towards the Dark SEED leader. "Heaven's Charm!"

Hiroshi/Megaseadramon swung his Trident, firing his own energy attack. "Thunder Javelin!"

The two attacks smashed into each other, exploding in a blast of light and energy that sent shockwaves into both combatants. Hiroshi/Megaseadramon was thrown into the staircase beneath the double doors, while Kari/Angewomon slammed into the ground. The Dark SEED leader recovered quicker and saw the Digidestined leader lying on the floor. He ran at her, bringing his Trident above his head and swung down. Kari/Angewomon quickly brought her Holy Lances up and successfully blocked the attack. Unfortunately for Hiroshi/Megaseadramon, the tip of his Trident was caught in the handle of the Holy Lances. Kari/Angewomon grinned as she pulled her Lances as hard as she could, throwing Hiroshi/Megaseadramon over her head and onto the ground. She jumped back onto her feet seconds before her opponent did the same.

They stared at one another, panting loudly. "Not bad," Hiroshi/Megaseadramon grinned, "You're pretty good."

"Thank you," Kari/Angewomon smiled, "You're pretty good too. I just wish there was a way that I could convince you to stop what you're doing."

"Ain't going to happen," Hiroshi/Megaseadramon said. He held up his Trident, "Shall we continue?"

Kari/Angewomon looked to the ground. "If you want," she sighed, sadly.

The Dark SEED leader grinned and ran forward. Kari/Angewomon reluctantly leapt back into battle.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yolei laughed with glee as Silphymon fired his Static Force attack into Angemon, before grabbing Aidramon by the tail and swinging him into Coelemon. "You guys are pathetic!" she laughed, "I can't believe you beat the four generals of Dark SEED!"

"Yolei!" Tk called, "Yolei, please, remember who you really are!"

"I know who I am!" she laughed.

"No," Tk said, "I mean, you're a Digidestined! You're one of us!"

"Yeah, I was!" she laughed, "But I left after Kari turned her back on me!"

"She didn't do anything like that!" Tk pleaded, "You don't understand, Kari does love you!"

Yolei stopped her cold laughter and stared at him. "She..she does?"

"Yes!" Tk said, slowly, not wanting to scare her off, "She's just confused about her feelings. She doesn't know how to deal with what she's feeling towards you and me…"

"You!" she suddenly screamed, "You're the reason that she hates me! Silphymon, kill him!"

"Well, that went well," Tatum said, ducking to avoid another blast from Silphymon.

"I almost had her," Tk said, "I almost brought her back!"

The bird-man tried to attack Tk and Tatum by firing another of his Static Force energy balls, but Angemon jumped in front of his partner. "Angemon!" Tk shouted, "Digivolve!"

"Angemon digivolve to Magna Angemon!"

The newly digivolved angel used his wrist-based sword to bat the energy ball aside, where it exploded into the concrete floor. Silphymon growled and fired another Static Force at the Ultimate Angel digimon. Magna Angemon could not react in time, and was hit in the chest. He was injured, but not enough to cause him to pause in the fight.

"I do not want to hurt you," he said.

"Then you're out of luck!" Silphymon shouted.

"Hold on!" Aidramon shouted, zooming towards the Ultimate bird digimon with Coelemon on his back. "God Tornado!"

The Ultimate bird-digimon yelled in pain, but he soon roared when Airdramon fired his own energy beams into Silphymon's already injured face. "Silphymon!" Yolei screamed, "Silphymon!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Yuehon could not move as she and Catherine were rolling around on the ground, trying to overpower one another.

Yuehon was finally able to put her feet underneath of Catherine's stomach and push her off. The French girl stumbled backwards but had to recover quickly as the Chinese girl was not yet finished with her assault. Yuehon removed her black robe, giving her more mobility. She charged at Catherine as if she was going to tackle her again, but at the last second pivoted on her right foot and slammed her left foot into the blond girl's face, throwing her to the ground., The French girl quickly recovered and grabbed Yuehon's foot, making the Chinese girl lose her balance. When she was on the ground once again, Catherine landed on top of her, bringing her knees into the most sensitive area of a woman's chest. Yuehon shouted out loud with small tears forming in her eyes, but did not quite the fight just yet. She punched Catherine in the face, knocking her off top of her. She tried to get up, but the pain was too great.

Catherine stood up and rubbed her sore jaw. She walked over to where the Chinese girl was lying and knelt beside her. "Truly believe me when I zay zat I did not want to hurt you," she looked away, with tears forming in her own eyes, "I hate to hurt ozer people, but you were corrupting ze powerz of sincerity. To truly understand zeir powerz, you must have a pure heart, but you have deceived yourzelf, zat must be why it became ze Crezt of Deception." Catherine gently reached over and removed the Crest of Deception from around Yuehon's neck.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"All right!" Davis shouted, "Attack him together!"

Paildramon lead the attack by jabbing Diaboromon with his twin spikes, creating two giant slash marks across the mega's chest. He jumped out of the way, allowing Stingmon to jump into attack.

"Spinning Spiking Strike!" he shouted, slamming his feet into Diaboromon's already injured chest. Ankylomon leapt into action next, bringing his Tail Hammer into the slash marks, ripping the black skin apart. Colemon attacked next.

"Fossil Bite!" he shouted, throwing a group of darts into the hole on Diaboromon's chest. He roared in pain but the Digidestined were not yet finished with their assault. Blossumon fired her Polinosis Shower into the hole stopping the evil mega in his track.

"Great work!" Paildramon shouted, "Now let me finish him off!" He swung around his twin gun barrels and pointed them at Diaboromon's missing chest. "Desperado Blaster!" His glowing bullets tore into the gapping hole, ripping through the other side. The evil mega gave a final scream before his data was scattered.

"Yes!" Davis shouted, "We did it!"

" Davis," Paildramon said, "We may have another problem."

The goggle wearer turned to where his partner was pointing. Diaboromon's two gauntlets remained floating in the air. The two metal gloves glowed for a second before shrinking down to human size and clanging onto the ground. The Digidestined approached with caution. "What's going on?" Derek asked.

Ken cautiously approached to the two gauntlets. "He said they were Holy Weapons. Maybe since he's been destroyed, they need another owner?"

Davis nodded. "Well, I think I'm the best man for the job."

"What?" Cody gasped, "Are you sure?"

He grinned confidently. "Of course." He walked over and lifted up the metal gloves. He did not let the others see, but he took a deep breath and shoved the Holy Gauntlets onto his hands. He breathed with relief. "At least I'm still alive."

"I just realized somethin'," Derek said, "We actually saved a Destiny Stone!"

Kari blinked a few times. "Wait, something's wrong…."

Tk stared at Yolei. "This happened already….."

Catherine and Yuehon stared at one another. "What's going on?" the Chinese girl asked.

Paildramon turned to Davis, "I have the strangest feeling we did this already."

"This isn't real!" Kari shouted.

Suddenly, Kari and Hiroshi were standing side by side, no longer fighting. The castle hall at Darkness Falls, the place where their battle had occurred, was gone, replaced by the halls of the Sovereign Castle. "What the heck just happened?" he asked.

"My guess would be Millenniumon," Kari said, "He made us relive our battle at Darkness Falls."

"That scum," Hiroshi growled, clenching his fist.

"We got to stop him!" Salamon exclaimed.

Penmon glanced around. "How can we even find him? This place all looks the same to me!"

Hiroshi sighed. "I guess we'd just better start looking." He ran forward.

"Wait!" Kari shouted, but to no avail. "Darn it! All right, come on Salamon."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

"All right," Tatum said, glancing around the room they appeared in-similar to a large ball room, "Millenniumon separated us, made us relive that battle, but what for?"

Tk shook his head. "I don't have any idea, maybe…maybe…I don't know. Yolei, do you…" he turned to ask the purple-haired girl, but was alarmed when he saw her kneeling on the ground, tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"H…How could that monster make me remember the Crest of Hate?" she asked, tears staining her cheeks, "That...that….he'll pay for this! He'll pay!"

Hawkmon placed a wing on her shoulder. "Easy, it's okay, it's okay."

Tk smiled. "It's all right." He knelt down so he could stare at her directly in the eyes, "Listen to me now, okay? What happened when you had the Crest of Hate, wasn't you, not the real you, understand?"

Yolei nodded slowly. "Y..yeah, I know…I know…"

The blond boy smiled. "Good."

"Um, guys," Tatum's Betamon said, "I hate to interrupt, but we've got company!"

Tk and Yolei turned to the sky and were shocked to see a dinosaur-man dressed in armor descend towards them through the ceiling. "W…Wargreymon!"

The digimon only smirked. "Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not."

"What?" Tk gasped, "Are you Wargreymon or not?"

"I am a Wargreymon that was created by Lord Millenniumon from your memories. I am VR-Wargrey!"

"W…what do you want?" Tatum asked.

VR-Wargrey pointed his claws at them. "I am here to deliver your charred corpses to Lord Millenniumon!"

Tk clenched his fist. "We're not here to fight you, but if you give us no choice…"

Before anyone could react, VR-Wargrey swung his claws, which sent a beam of light towards the three humans. Tk instinctively pushed Yolei out of the way; only the blond haired boy and the braided-haired girl were thrown to the ground.

The purple-haired girl stared at her friends. "Tk…" She turned back to VR-Sakuya, gripping her digivice, "Hawkmon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to Aquillamon!"

The large eagle opened his mouth and fired a series of red rings, at the constructed mega, which he easily batted aside. This distracted him enough, however, for the bird to bash his head into his stomach, knocking him back further into the room.

"Patamon," Tk called to his partner, "Let's help him out."

She glanced over her shoulder at the two of them. "Aquillamon! Get them out of here!"

"What?" Tatum gasped, but before anyone else could protest, a quick blast of wind from Aquillamon's wings sent Tk, Tatum and their partners flying out the large door of the room and into the hall.

"Yolei!" Tk shouted, "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you the chance to go after Millenniumon!" she shouted, "Do it!"

"Yolei!" the blond boy shouted again. He ran towards the door, but another blast from Aquillamon slammed it shut. He continued to pound on the thick stone doors, "Yolei!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari suddenly stopped as she felt a strange, sinking feeling in her chest. Her head began to hurt slightly as an image of Yolei appeared in her mind, followed by an image of Sora. "_I will always be your friend."_

"Kamiya?" Hiroshi asked, staring at her strangely.

She shook her head. "No, I…it's nothing. Let's go."

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Catherine helped Yuehon back onto her feet, but she was already off-balanced and that caused both to fall back against the castle wall. "Zorry," the French girl said.

"No problem," the Chinese girl sighed, "After everything we've been through, I don't think hitting the wall is gonna hurt, heh."

"No, but maybe this will."

The two girls and their digimon partners spun around to see a familiar fox woman slowly walking towards them through the hall. Catherine stared at her with wide eyes. "R..Rika?"

She laughed. "You wish! I am VR-Sakuya, servant of Millenniumon! My lord and masters wishes for your heads, so surrender or fight back, it will all be the same in the end!" She launched forward, striking her staff into the ground. Floramon and Candlemon pushed their partners to safety before VR-Sakuya's attack caused the floor to splinter. The two Digidestined digimon nodded at one another and leapt at VR-Sakuya. The digivices on Catherine and Yuehon began to activate in earnest, as well as Catherine's Crest of Sincerity.

"Floramon digivolve to Kiwimon! Kiwimon digivolve to Blossumon!"

"Candlemon digivolve to Apemon!"

After evolving, the two digimon continued on their path to tackle their enemy, but with a twist of her staff, the fox woman sent them crashing into the wall.

VR-Sakuya laughed. "So you digivolved, big deal! You still can't beat me, I'm the best!"

"If that isn't Rika, she's sure done her homework," Blossumon commented.

Apemon grabbed the bone staff on his back and threw it like a boomerang at the fox woman, but she grabbed it with ease and threw it at Blossumon, knocking her back. With surprising speed, she shot over, grabbed the plant digimon, and flung her into Apemon, causing both digimon to become tangled in one another.

"This isn't good," Yuehon sighed, "I don't think even Blossumon can stand a chance."

The French girl nodded. "Oui, I know."

The Chinese girl grinned. "So, are we going to give up?"

Catherine shook her head and smiled. "Why don't we take her down with uz?"

Yuehon nodded. "I'm with you." She turned towards her partner, "Apemon, hit her with everything you've got!"

"You too, Blossumon!" Catherine shouted.

VR-Sakuya smirked. "You really think a kamikaze attack's going to stop me?"

"Only one way to find out," Catherine smiled, "Attack!"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari held out in pain again as she clutched her chest. This time she saw an image of Catherine, followed by Mimi, and then one of Yuehon. "_We'll be waiting, good luck. Protect Lord Hiroshi."_

"I know something's wrong," Salamon said, "What's up?"

"I…I don't know," she said, "I…I just have a bad feeling."

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Davis yelled as he punched the wall. "Damn it! We're lost! How can anyone find there way around here? Everything looks exactly the same!"

"Try to calm down," Cody said, "We'll find our way through here somehow."

After awaking from Millenniumon's illusion, they found themselves in a large, round room, surrounded by windows. They theorized that they were probably in one of the towers of the castle. After exiting and searching through what seemed like endless halls and doors, they found themselves back in the same room; they had only traveled in a circle.

Derek sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Ya know, weird as it sounds, I kinda agree with Davis. We're goin' absolutely no where, isn't there anything we can do?"

Crabmon sighed. "Yeah, too bad Salamon isn't here, she might have been able to smell her way out."

"Hold on," Ken said, "Maybe Searchmon could find a way out?"

Wormmon nodded. "All right, I'm ready."

Ken reached for his D-terminal. "Digi-armor energize!"

"Wormmon armor digivolve to Searchmon! The Shield of Knowledge!"

The armored digimon rested on the floor as his large, satellite-shaped, back shield began to beep as his radar activated. "Have you found anything?" Ken asked.

"Yes," Searchmon said, "Something's coming! Something very big!"

Before anyone could react, one of the walls of the room was blown apart as a towering demonic beast stomped inside. "Venom Myotismon?" Ken and Derek shouted.

He grinned. "Sorry, wrong again. I'm VR-Venom, merely a reflection of Venom Myotismon created by master Millenniumon for the sole purpose of creating your extermination!"

He threw his giant fist at the small group of Digidestined and digimon below him. They dove out of the way with seconds to spare.

"Crabmon digivolve to Coelemon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to Ankylomon!"

"Veemon digivolve to Exveemon!"

VR-Venom laughed as he continued to swing his massive arms, "Go head, digivolve! It won't help you against my power!"

"Yeah, we'll just see about that!" Davis shouted, "Attack him, together! It always worked before!"

"Jamming Hertz!"

"Tail Hammer!"

"Fossil Bite!"

"V-laser!"

VR-Venom was hit in the chest with each attack. He staggered backwards, but quickly recovered. He raised his arms above his head, then threw them down, smashing into the floor. The entire room shook violently, knocking the humans off of their feet. Davis not only fell onto his back, but he also rolled close to one of the large windows. He was able to get back to his feet, but Exveemon landed in front of him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "But this guy means business. You're gonna have to digivolve to Imperial Dramon."

"I'm ready," he said, "Let's do it!"

VR-Venom glanced over his shoulder at the goggle-wearer and his partner. Exveemon was about to began his digivolution. The towering giant brought his arm around and smashed his hand into the digimon and human, knocking them out of the window.

"Davis!" Cody shouted.

"All right," Ken said, "We've got to take this guy down, now!"

VR-Venom grinned wickedly and laughed. "Bring it on! Ha!"

Outside of the castle, Exveemon had caught Davis about half way down the castle. They spun around in time to see the window they had fallen from suddenly explode in light and sound.

"No!" Davis shouted, "Ken, Cody, Derek! No!" He clenched his fists in rage, wanting nothing more then to pound them into something as hard as he could, but, still being held in Exveemon's arms, he could not. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "All right. Exveemon, let's find Millenniumon and make him pay!"

His digimon nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to the surroundings. "Davis, look…"

The goggle wearer glanced around and gasped as well. "Holy shi…" He took a deep breath, "Oh man, I hope we're not the only ones left, or else Earth is screwed!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Kari felt the uncomfortable feeling once again, this time completely falling onto the stone floor. Her mind was assaulted by images of Cody, Derek, and Ken, followed by Joe and Izzy. "_Remember, your true strength lies within."_

Hiroshi glared at her. "I know something's going on, what is it?"

"D..dead…"

"What?"

"Th..they're dead," she said, tears beginning to fill her eyes, "Y..yolei, C..catherine, Yuehon, Ken, Cody, Derek…they're gone, they're gone!"

Salamon and Penmon gasped, but Hiroshi only stared. "Y…yuehon…?"

"They're gone?"

Kari looked up and could see through tear stained eyes that Tk and Tatum were standing before her. She nodded slowly.

"Damn it…" Tk said, "Yolei…"

Kari started to cry even louder. Tatem knelt down and embraced her. Salamon sat by her partner's side, struggling to think of how to comfort her, when a foul stench penetrated her nostrils. "He's coming!"

The walls of the castle began to bend and twist, becoming a black vortex in which the god of darkness appeared. He stared at them with a disapproving expression on his face. "**I see my servants failed to destroy you."**

"They killed our friends!" Tk shouted.

"You're gonna pay for Yuehon!" Hiroshi shouted.

The god stared down at him. "**Silence!"** He flicked his fingers and a beam of light shot towards him. Seconds before it would have impacted, another blast of light and force deflected it into the wall. Hiroshi spun around and saw Exveemon staring with hate at Millenniumon. Behind him stood Davis, with an equally hateful expression in his eyes.

Millenniumon sighed. "**I see all of my servants failed, and yet they failed to kill you, but even in failure, they were successful."**

"What do you mean?" Patamon asked.

Millenniumon raised his right hand and twelve balls of glowing light flowed through the halls. They swarmed around the dark god before flowing into his chest. His body began to explode with light; he curled his body into a ball as the same light seemed to solidify around him in a crystal shape. "**I am now MoonMillenniumon!"**

"M…MoonMillenniumon?" Tatum asked, "But…how?"

"**By using the energy of your fallen friends, I have ascended! And now it is time to do away with you as well. With your energy, I will become even more powerful!"** He glanced down at the kneeling Kari, "**And once those cards are mine…"**

"Forget it!" Davis shouted, "You're not gonna destroy us like you did the Dark Ocean!"

"What are you talking about?" Tk asked.

"We saw it," Exveemon said, "Outside, the entire Dark Ocean, it's nothing but a wasteland; nothing's left."

Tk clenched his fist in rage. He spun to glare at MoonMillenniumon. "You killed Wisemon?"

"**Correct. While you were trapped in the illusions of time and space, I easily annihilated the pathetic weaklings of this world, and now you will soon join them."**

"Didn't ya hear me before?" Davis asked, "I said you're not gonna beat us!"

Moonmillenniumon floated to the ceiling as four black figures appeared beside him. "**No, but perhaps my creations can, dark reflections of Blackwargreymon, Gallantmon, Megagargomon, and Imperial Dramon. Please meet: VR-BWarGrey, VR-Duke, VR-SaintGalgo, and VR-Imperial! Go my creations, steal those Key Cards, destroy the rest!"**

VR-BWarGrey led the attack, flying straight towards Kari, who was still kneeling on the floor, completely lost in her own thoughts. Salamon jumped in front of her, but without the ability to digivolve, she could not stand against one mega, much less three. She stared at the evil shadow digimon as he moved ever closer, however, he and the other three VR creations were suddenly thrown backwards by a blast of force. The small digimon glanced to the ceiling and gasped as Goldramon landed in front of her.

"Tk?" she asked, glancing to the right. The blond boy was standing by his digimon's side, his hand squeezing his Holy Sword as tight as he could.

He growled and mentioned to the girl on the ground. "Get Kari out of here."

"You've got to be crazy!" Hiroshi shouted, "We're not leaving!"

"We can't let him get those Key Cards! They're obviously a lot more powerful then we thought! Go!"

Before anyone could protest further, VR-Duke darted across the wall, intending to sneak around the gold dragon, but Goldramon was quicker then the evil reflection thought. He smashed his fist into VR-Duke's face, throwing him into the wall, which shook and crumbled, separating Hiroshi, Tatum, Kari and their digimon from Tk, Davis, and their digimon. This left them trapped with VR-Duke and VR-Imperial.

Davis quickly pulled on his Holy Gauntlets as Exveemon digivolved to Imperial Dramon. Both humans used their Holy Weapons to fuse with their dragon partners. VR-Imperial and VR-Duke stared at them.

"Move aside," VR-Duke finally said, "For we have been commanded to acquire the Key Cards. If you do not, you will leave us no choice but to use force."

Davis/Imperialdramon glanced at Tk/Goldramon. "You hear this guy talk? He sounds like that stupid play I had to read, _A Minstral's Nigh Dream."_

His fellow fused warrior smiled. "I think you mean _A Midsummer Night's Dream."_

Davis/Imperialdramon shrugged. "Hey, I can barely understand the English they use _now_, forget about hundreds of years ago!"

Tk/Goldramon chuckled. "I don't think we're gonna make it out of this one."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, Davis, I'm glad you were on our side for all of this, you sure made one hell of a hero."

"Hey, same to you. There's not too many people that can put aside their past and just move forward, that's a hero for you."

Tk/Goldramon nodded and smiled. He glanced at the two VR soldiers. "On 3."

"You bet."

"1…2…3!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

When the wall collapsed, Tatem, grabbed Kari and pulled her to safety. They dove into an intersecting hall along with Hiroshi and their digimon. "We'd better get as far from here as possible," Tatum said.

"I'm not running from anything!" Hiroshi protested.

"Think about it!" Tatum shouted, "We're losing, and fast! We've got to get those Key Cards away from Moonmillenniumon right away!"

He sighed deeply. He mentioned to the comatose Kari, who was sitting on the floor. "What about her?"

Salamon trotted over and stared up at her. "Kari?"

"Gone," she finally said.

"What?"

"Davis…Tk…gone…dead…" She closed her eyes and saw the images of Davis and Tk, followed by Matt. "_It's up to you now."_

Tatum sighed deeply. "This isn't looking good."

"It's all over," Kari said, "It's no use, we…we can't win…all…all dead…"

Salamon stared up at her. "Kari, w…what?"

"No use…it's over…"

The braided-haired girl knelt down in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes. "Kari, I understand how you're feeling, but you can't just give up. It's not like you. We can still win, but, if you give up, you've already lost."

"Tatum!" Betamon shouted, "Something's coming!"

The braided-haired girl leapt to her feet. "Hiroshi, take care of Kari."

"There's no way you can do this by yourself," Penmon said.

"He can't get those Key Cards," Tatum said, "You have to get Kari out of here."

Hiroshi stared at Kari, who had still not completely recovered. She was vulnerable.. "It's against my better judgment," he said, "But I'll do it." He grabbed Kari and started running down the hall. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "Just do me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't go down so easily."

The braided-haired girl smiled. "You got it." She watched them leave before turning back to her partner. She reached for her digivice, "Ready?"

Betamon nodded. "Ready. Betamon digivolve to Sand Yanmamon! Sand Yanmamon digivolve to Brachiomon! Brachiomon digivolve to Megidramon!"

The human and digimon then fused together, becoming a teenage girl wearing a red gymnast uniform, a helmet in the shape of Megidramon's head, and her Holy Whip attached to the back of her waist. She took a deep breath. "I know you're here, you might as well come out."

The floor before her blew apart as a massive digimon burst through from the bottom level. "You're VR-SaintGalgo, aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, so what?"

"I guess your name's a dialect translation, huh?"

"And I guess you can't stand it when you don't know something, huh?" he laughed. When he saw the questioning expression on her face, he laughed. "I know about you. You always prided yourself on being the wisest Digidestined, not necessarily the smartest, that was Ichijoji, but you always tried to be wise sage, so when you don't know something, it really annoys you, doesn't it?"

"I know what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work," she said, "Because, like you said, I was always the wisest Digidestined. So while I'd rather spend time stalling you, I know that's not going to happen."

She reached behind her back and grabbed her Holy Whip, which she cracked into the ground. "I'm taking you out right now."

VR-SaintGalgo laughed and readied his missiles. "Then let's see what you can do." His missiles launched, heading straight for the fused human/digimon.

Tatum/Megidramon started swinging her whip around before her, which ignited into a ball of red flames. "Megido Flame!"

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

By this time, Hiroshi had carried Kari far into the depths of the castle. They eventually reached a room, clearly more damaged then any of the others. Pieces of metal were scattered around, and the walls were black with smoke. Salamon slowly gasped. "Kari, is this…?"

The brown-haired girl finally came out of her depression-induced coma. "I…I think it is."

"What?" Hiroshi asked.

"This is where Takato and Jeri…" She began inspecting the room. "There isn't any sign of the D-reaper. I guess Jeri was right, it was completely destroyed."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the castle, almost knocking them off of their feet. Once again Kari's mind was filled with an image of her friend's death. She saw Tatum, followed by Alice. "_I believe in you. Good luck."_ The brown-haired girl began to cry again, "Tatum…oh Tatum…"

Penmon glanced at Hiroshi, who only nodded. "One left."

Kari shot him a glance. "What?"

"I think you're gonna have to face Millenniumon alone."

"No!" she shouted, "You can't leave us too!"

He sighed. "Listen…this…I…" he stuttered, trying to think of the right words, "This is really hard to say, but…I just want to thank you!"

She stared at him. "W...what?"

"You gave me a second chance to undo my past mistakes. I harmed countless digimon, destroyed the Elemental Destiny Stones, and inadvertently freed Myotismon, but you still trusted me to help you in the Dark Ocean, and, while there's nothing I want more then to kick Millenniumon's butt, I'm going to return the favor. Kari, you have the power to do it."

The brown-haired girl smiled. "I think that's the first time you called me that."

He returned the smile, but glanced over his shoulder through the doorway to the room. VR-BWarGrey was flying towards them, maneuvering through the halls. Before Kari could react, he and Penmon charged into the hall. The aquatic digimon quickly digivolved to his mega form of Gigaseadramon before he and Hiroshi fused together. The human/digimon pointed his Holy Trident out before him, creating a ball of blue light at the tip. "Giga Sea Destroyer!"

The light exploded, filling the hall and eclipsing the doorway. An image of Hiroshi appeared before Kari. "_Go kick his butt, Kamiya!"_

Kari felt rage and sorry once again well up inside of her. She did not have time to grieve, however, as she became aware of a dark presence behind her. Spinning around, she saw Moonmillenniumon hovering before her. "You…"

"**I see that, even in your new life, your rage has not diminished, Taichi Kamiya."**

"You bastard!" she shouted, "You killed all of my friends!"

"**Yes, that's right, and their energy will become part of me!"** Four lights entered the room through the walls and floors, flowing into the evil god. He moaned and screamed as if in ecstasy. "**The power…the power of these dragons….I have never felt such energy before!**"

The crystal shell of Moonmillenniumon began to crack as energy swelled from within. The shell soon completely cracked, exploding apart. The new Millenniumon was a creature with two opposing heads, one red, one blue, surrounded by chains. "**I am Zeed Millenniumon!"**

"Z..zeed Millenniumon?" Kari gasped, "T…this…this can't be…"

"**But it is!"** he laughed, "**And now, I don't need to take the Key Cards from you, I'll just annihilate this entire world, and then take the Cards from whatever's left of you!"**

His eyes began to glow brightly, and he open his mouth releasing a soul-clenching roar that threw Kari and Salamon into a maelstrom of light that enveloped everything. The castle walls shattered, and the Digidestined and her Digimon were lost in the destruction.

To be concluded……


	29. APOCALYPSE: Journey's End

Kari here. Last time, Millenniumon was revived. He destroyed the Destiny Stone of the Center, which in turn destroyed the Digital World. We were sent to the Sovereigns Castle in the Dark Ocean, and separated. I had to watch as each one of my friends were killed by the servants of Millenniumon, the VR soldiers. Millenniumon absorbed the energy from all of them and digivolved to ZeedMillenniumon!

APOCALYPSE: Journey's End

The crystal shell of Moonmillenniumon began to crack as energy swelled from within. The shell soon completely cracked, exploding apart. The new Millenniumon was a creature with two opposing heads, one red, one blue, surrounded by chains. "**I am Zeed Millenniumon!"**

"Z..zeed Millenniumon?" Kari gasped, "T…this…this can't be…"

"**But it is!"** he laughed, "**And now, I don't need to take the Key Cards from you, I'll just annihilate this entire world, and then take the Cards from whatever's left of you!"**

His eyes began to glow brightly, and he open his mouth releasing a soul-clenching roar that threw Kari and Salamon into a maelstrom of light that enveloped everything.

When Kari opened her eyes, she found herself floating in a black void, absolutely nothing remained of the Sovereigns Castle or the Dark Ocean. "It's gone," she said, "Everything's gone, but…but how am I still alive?"

"Hey, you're not the only one you know!"

She smiled slightly as she turned to face her partner, who was floating next to her. "Okay, how are _we_ still alive?"

The small puppy-dog digimon shrugged. "Beats me. The Key Cards saved us before, maybe…"

The brown-haired girl reached into her pocket and removed the cards capable of bending dimensions. "It wouldn't surprise me."

Salamon glanced around at the void. "What about ZeedMillenniumon? Is he gone?"

Kari sighed. "I doubt it."

The two girls were silent for a while longer. "What are we going to tell everyone? I mean…their families…?"

Kari sighed. "I…I don't know. Tk…Yolei…" She started to cry, but took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. "Let's get ZeedMillenniumon, then we'll worry about how to tell everyone."

"Deal, but where is he? Wait…" She quickly sniffed the air. "Wait, he's already here."

A massive section of the black void began to shimmer and twist, revealing the shape of ZeedMillenniumon. The god of darkness stared down at them with his two dragon-shaped heads. "**I see that while even masking my presence, my scent is still detectable."**

"Especially when it smells like the garbage dump!" Salamon shouted.

"**You insolent slug, I hope your witty humor helps you in the next life! Now, give me those Key Cards!"**

"No way!" Kari shouted.

"**Why do you still resist? You have lost, your friends are gone, dead! Just give in, it is over. You have fought in both of your lives, do you not deserve rest?"**

Kari smiled. "Sorry, that's not going to work. Yeah, maybe I'm seconds away from breaking down, I just watched all of my friends get killed, who wouldn't? But I won't disgrace them by giving up! You, ZeedMillenniumon, are filled with pride, anger, and arrogance. I won't let the darkness you bring infect Earth. I'm stopping you, here and now!"

"**Excellent speech, well said, but I'm afraid that words alone won't defeat me!"** His eyes began to glow.

Kari quickly grabbed her digivice. "Salamon!"

Her partner nodded and jumped towards the towering mega. "Salamon warp digivolve to Ophanimon!"

ZeedMillenniumon opened the mouths on his two heads and fired blasts of black energy at the angel digimon. She dodged as best she could, but ZeedMillenniumon was easily more powerful, and faster. His energy blasts intensified and she was unable to escape. One of the blasts hit her in the stomach. Her body lurched forward, but another blast to her face sent her body twisting backwards. A wider blast to her entire body sent her flying past Kari.

"Ophanimon!" she shouted, watching her partner disappear into the darkness of the void. She turned back around and saw ZeedMillenniumon hovering before her.

"**Now, give me those Key Cards!"**

"Get away from her!"

Kari and the dark god watched as Ophanimon came flying back from within the void. Her palms were together as seven diamonds appeared within them. She tensed her muscles and the diamonds shot forward. "Sefirot Crystal!"

ZeedMillenniumon growled, his eyes glowing once again. Ophanimon's attack was flung backwards, smashing into her. The armor around her left shoulder was thorn off, but the angel digimon stopped her backward momentum. She panted heavily.

"Ophanimon," Kari said, "Are you…?"

"I'll be fine," she said, glaring at ZeedMillenniumon. "He's not as strong as he thinks…"

The dark god laughed. "**You're kidding, right?**" His entire body began to crackle with energy, sending bolts flying in all directions. Many of these pierced into Ophanimon's body, The angel digimon began to spasm as electricity coursed through her. She held it in as long as she could, but soon she began to scream. The energy gathered and pulled together until there was an explosion, sending Salamon into Kari's arms.

ZeedMillenniumon laughed in glee. "**As you can see, it is pointless. You have lost, accept it."**

Kari was staring at Salamon. The small digimon looked away. "I'm sorry, I tried."

"It's okay," the brown haired girl said, hugging her tight, "It's okay. And I'm glad I'm with you, right now at the end."

Salamon returned her embrace, "It's okay, Kari, we tried our best."

"**Yes, you did,"** ZeeMillenniumon responded, "But it was useless from the beginning, you understand. You mortals tried to face a god, it was simply impossible. Now, close your eyes and embrace your destruction!" His eyes glowed again and fired a blast of dark energy from his mouth that completely enveloped Kari and Salamon, sending waves of black energy coursing through them. Neither one would give the laughing demon god the satisfaction of screaming. Their bodies were torn apart from the center, scattering their data across the void. ZeedMillenniumon watched the particles start to dissolve, but his body glowed slightly. Some of the data were suddenly drawn back together, re-forming into ten cards, which floated over to him. "**The Key Cards, at least!"** he laughed, "**I now have the keys to enter the human world! Ha ha ha!"**

His blue head moved slightly, and nine of the Key Cards arranged themselves into three rows of three, while the tenth hovered behind them. The nine cards glowed a yellowish light, which shot into the lone card, spreading out into a massive projection. A translucent image of Tokyo appeared.

"**Yes, the human world! It is mine! It's mine! Ha ha ha!"**

Kari slowly opened her eyes and stared at bright white all around her. She rubbed the back of her head, confused that she still had hands and arms…or a head for that matter. She was able to twist her body around so she was sitting up. "S…Salamon?"

"I'm right here."

The brown-haired girl turned around and saw her digimon partner trying her best to swim over to her. Kari reached out and grabbed her. She smiled and hugged her tightly. The small digimon glanced around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," she said, "Is this the afterlife?"

"You mean…we're dead?"

"I think so, remember, ZeedMillenniumon beat us." She shook her head, "We tried, we just couldn't stop him."

Salamon nodded. "I know."

Kari sighed deeply. "But, it's over now, let's just rest for a little while…"

"Is that what you really want?"

She blinked a few times, surprised to see the source of the voice, yet relieved as well. "Yolei…" She quickly turned around and saw all of her fallen friends assembled together. She smiled, but then frowned; feelings of shame filling her. She turned away. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Davis asked.

"We couldn't stop him, we tried, we just couldn't…" She sighed, "And now ZeedMillenniumon's going to destroy Earth."

"You can't give up," Davis said,"it's just not you."

"But what else can I do?" she asked, "We're just not strong enough to stop him. Me and Salamon…we can't beat him by ourselves…"

"Why do you think you're alone?" Tk asked.

"What?"

"We are your friendz," Catherine said, "We are always here."

"Y..you are?"

"Yes!" Hiroshi gasped, "Did you really think we were going to leave you?"

Tatum smiled. "Even if you can't see us, we'll always be with you."

Kari stared at each one of her friends. She felt tears start to form in her eyes. She nodded, smiling. "Yes, you're right, I'm sorry I forget." She dried her eyes, "I won't give up, no matter what."

Each one of her friends approached her, handing her a crest.

"Here you are," Yolei smiled, handing her the Crest of Love.

"Please take it," Tk said, handing her the Crest of Hope.

"Use this," Ken, Ryo and Cody nodded, holding the Crest of Knowledge

"You'll need this," Catherine and Yuehon said in unison, holding the Crest of Sincerity.

"I hope this helps," Tatum and Derek added, handing her the Crest of Reliability.

"Kick his butt…" Davis grinned, giving her the Crest of Miracles.

"…and scatter his data to the wind!" Hiroshi shouted, holding the Crest of Destiny.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

ZeedMillenniumon continued to stare at the image of Earth. "**So beautiful, and now it's all mine!"**

"Better enjoy the view, ZeedMillenniumon, because you're never going to see it again."

The dark god frowned and twisted back around. Like shards of glass being propelled in reverse, the shattered data of Kari and Salamon were pulled back together, completely reforming. Both human and digimon stared at him with hate in their eyes.

"**So, I see you still do not understand the futility of your efforts! I will enjoy cramming it into your skulls!"**

Kari nodded at Salamon. The small digimon hovered in front of her and began to glow. "Salamon warp digivolve to Ophanimon!"

The brown-haired girl held out her Holy Lances, which began to glow a golden light. Human and digimon were fused together in an explosion of light. The fused Kari/Ophanimon mostly resembled the angel woman, except her face was that of Kari, and her hair was now brown. Around her, the Crests of Love, Hope, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Miracles and Destiny appeared, each one glowing it unique color. They turned into beams of light that flew into the Crest of Light that was hanging around her neck. This Crest changed to a metallic version of deep pink.

"**Prepare to die!"** ZeedMillenniumon shouted, firing a beam of black energy from his mouths.

Kari/Ophanimon placed her palms together, creating seven glowing diamonds, which, after tensing her muscles, sent the diamonds crashing into the beam. "Sefirot Crystal!" Her attack stopped ZeedMillenniumon's beam from moving any further. He only laughed and his beam intensified. Kari/Ophanimon pointed her Holy Lances forward, sending waves of light into the seven crystals, giving them added strength. They were now locked in a power struggled, both trying to tear through the other's attack so that they could destroy their foe.

They did not how long their power struggle continued, but Kari/Ophanimon soon began to show signs of fatigue. Her arms were beginning to feel heavy, and it took effort to keep her Holy Lances pointed at her Sefirot Crystal, keeping them pushing into ZeedMillenniumon's dark energy beam.

"**Ha! Feeling a little tired are we? Well, I can keep this up for all eternity! How about you!"**

He growled and his dark beam intensified once again. The Sefirot Crystals were pushed back, but fortunately, Kari/Ophanimon was able to gain control, stopping ZeedMillenniumon's beam once more. "Come on," she said to herself, "I can do this!"

Her grip was beginning to weaken and her Holy Lances began to slip. She struggled to gain control, but she knew that she could not keep up this intensity for much longer. She gave a silent call for aid, and to her surprise, it was answered. In her mind's eyes, she saw that, once again, her friends were by her side.

_Tatum appeared first, her hands claps together in her lap and bowing slightly in the formal way she always appeared. She giggled. "Sure, I'm still by your side."_

_Tk_ _was next, smiling and nodding politely. "My power is yours, all you need to do is ask."_

_He was followed by Davis, who punched his open palms. "Come on, we'll take him down together!"_

_Hiroshi was last, his arms crossed and a wicked smirk on his face. "Take my power now, I'm not offering again!"_

Kari/Ophanimon nodded. "Yes, please, he's…he's still too strong, help, please."

Suddenly, she saw a strange sight, and needed to blink to make certain her eyes were not playing tricks on her. Transparent images of the Holy Whip, Holy Sword, Holy Gauntlets, and Holy Trident appeared from no where. The four weapons flowed into the Holy Lances, and the Holy Weapons were merged into one, creating a much darker and larger version of the Holy Lances. Kari/Ophanimon took a deep breath and screamed, the energy pouring from her Holy Weapon grew to a large size. This same energy poured into the Sefirot Crystals, sending them tearing through ZeedMillenniumon's dark beam.

"**No! This is impossible!"** he shouted, watching as Kari/Ophanimon's attack headed straight towards him. He quickly twisted out of the way and followed the seven diamonds as they passed him and shot into the darkness. He was about to laugh in triumph, but when he turned around he felt a sharp pain in his body. Glancing down he was shocked to see Kari/Ophanimon floating below him, her Holy Lances shoved deep into his body. He struggled to move, but found that all of his strength was leaving him. He would not be defeated like this, he would not!

"**You think you've won? Is that it? Well, if I die, I'm taking you with me!"**

He body began to expunge black energy that flowed through the Holy Lances and into Kari/Ophanimon, infecting every pore and orifice. "**My dark energy will envelop you, destroying your light powers and killing you! Ha!"** His body soon completely dissolved; vanishing forever.

Kari/Ophanimon did not say anything. Despite the darkness entering her body, she could only see her fallen Digidestined, each one waving goodbye. "No…I…I won't let this happen! I'll save you, I'll save you!" The darkness completely enveloped her, but the ten Key Cards, flowed into the dark cloud and glowed brightly.

**SYSTEM CRASH**

**A:) REBOOT IN SAFE MOOD**

**B:) RETURN TO PREVIOUS SAVE(NOT RELIABLE)**

**C:) RESTORE TO ORIGINAL CONDITION**

. **C:\ FULL SYSTEM RESTORE**

**ENTER….**

Yolei shot awake in her bed. Sweat was pouring down her face and she was breathing heavily. "Oh man, what a dream, it was so intense, but I can't remember any of it." She sighed deeply and fell back onto her pillow. She glanced at her alarm clock and groaned. "Better get up."

After dressing and eating, she ran to school. Once she entered the classroom, she saw Davis sitting in the rear, waving to her. "Hey, Yolei, what's up?"

"Another nightmare," she sighed, sitting down next to him, "I wish I knew what they meant."

Davis shrugged. "Ah, try not to worry about it. Hey, are you coming to the game tonight?"

She grinned. "Sure I am!" She turned around, "Are you going too…?" She blinked a few times, surprised to see an empty desk.

Davis stared at her. "Who are you talking to?"

"I…I don't know, for some reason, I was expecting someone to be there. Oh well, must be from not getting enough sleep."

After school was over, Yolei ran home to change for the basketball game. She was unaware that Kari and Salamon were watching her from a building roof. "So, they don't remember anything?" the digimon asked.

The human shook her head. "No, it was the only way to save them, they don't remember anything about the Digital World, or even each other."

Down below, Yolei was running so fast that she crashed into Ken, who was walking home from school as well.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the purple-haired girl exclaimed.

"No, I wasn't watching where I was going," Ken said.

Above them, Kari smiled. "Besides, they deserve their own lives, not constantly reliving old ones. They deserve peace."

Salamon nodded. "So, are things…completely back?"

She nodded. "I used all of Millenniumon's power to reset time. They'll live their lives, never knowing about the Digital World at all, but I made certain that Millenniumon _isn't_ around this time, so the Digital World should be safe now."

"What about the digimon?"

"They don't remember anything either, they deserve this second chance too." She smiled, "They deserve peace too."

A few blocks away, Hiroshi was walking with his parents down the sidewalk. He was complaining about being grounded for staying out too late. As they approached a boarding school, he caught sight of Yuehon, who was leaving with her own parents. He stared at her for a moment, but then continued to follow his parents. In another section of the city, Cody was participating in a kendo match, unaware that Tatum was in the audience watching. In another section, Catherine was trying to read a street sign with the aid of a translation dictionary. She began to swear in French, when she was approached by Derek.

"Hey, you not from here either, are you?"

"No, I am visiting," she smiled, "But I am having trouble reading Japanese."

Derek smiled. "I'm visiting too, maybe we can help each other?"

The blond girl smiled. "Oui, zure."

At the school's basketball game, Yolei was cheering with excitement as Odabia won. After the game, she pushed through the crowd and gave Davis a hug. "You were great! That was amazing!"

He laughed. "Yeah, thanks." He looked over her shoulder, "Hang on a second." He walked over to a blond boy from the other team. "Hey, you did pretty well."

The other boy nodded. "Yeah, you too. It was an honor to play against you."

"You don't need to be so formal, jeeze." He shook his head, "Oh yeah, my name's Davis," He pointed to the purple-haired girl, "This is Yolei."

"I'm Tk," he bowed, "Nice to meet you." He stared at Yolei for another second, "Say, I've never seen anyone with purple hair before."

"It's dyed," she smiled, "My mother hates it, but I think it looks pretty cool."

The blond boy returned the smile. "Hey, I hope I don't sound too forward, but if you're not doing anything this weekend…."

In the midst of the crowd, Kari smiled as she watched Tk and Yolei introduce themselves. She slowly turned away and began to walk out of the school gymnasium, thinking about her long journey.

Outside of the school, she found Salamon hiding in the bushes surrounding the building. "So?" she asked.

Kari nodded. "Yeah, Tk and Yolei just meet each other."

"You don't have a problem with that?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm happy for them, I really am. They deserve happiness, because I know they wouldn't get it from me."

Salamon stared up at her. "Kari…"

"_Kari, it's time."_

The brown-haired girl smiled and looked up to the sky. "I know, Azulongmon."

"_But before you come, you need to decide whether you want to be Kari or Tai."_

"Oh…um…can I think about it for a little bit longer?"

"_Sure, take all the time you need. After all, you have all eternity…."_

THE END

Author's note: Well, this has been my final digimon fic, so I hoped you enjoyed it.


End file.
